Hush Little Baby
by justsomeone2010
Summary: Sequel to Small Bump. After the tragedy of Jane's first pregnancy, she and Thor try again for the child they so desperately wanted.
1. Recovery

"Maybe it was a sign." Jane said, digging the spoon against the bottom of the ice cream tub. Her guarded eyes lifted to Thor. "Maybe it was the universes way of telling us that kids before marriage isn't allowed in Asgard."

Thor sighed and ran a hand over his eyes. He kept it there. "No Jane." he said somewhat stiffly. He was getting tired of having to repeat himself. "I have told you this. _Numerously_. People have children outside of wedlock all the time in Asgard. You have to accept that."

"But you're not just _people_ though, are you?" she cut back relentlessly, rolling her gaze down to the near empty tub. "You're the prince."

"The point still stands." Thor tossed his hand back to his side and rose from his place in the armchair in the corner of the living room, crossing to the couch where Jane sat. Her gaze darted up sharply at his advance, but did nothing to resist as he cupped her face in both of his hands and angled her eyes up to his. "There was no reason, Jane." he said quietly, but clearly, accentuating every word. "There was nothing that could be done."

The conversation came up daily in some form or another, and Thor could hardly say he blamed her. She was only coping the best way she knew how - science. And in science there was always a cause. Always a reason. Still, he knew she had to accept the inevitable truth: they'd lost Anabelle out of pure misfortune.

Jane was struggling to get her head around it.

Mind you, he wasn't exactly the beacon of logic himself. His emotions raged through his system like they were tearing him apart.

They'd been on Earth for a week, and in a week they'd barely left the apartment. Thor had brought her back as soon as the burial ceremony was over. He'd been more than insistant, and Jane hadn't been quick to argue: she hadn't wanted to go back into their bedroom - or more specifically, their bathroom - either. It was something Thor simply wanted to leave behind. He knew he would never be able to look at the room in the same way again.

That was only part of the reason he'd brought her here. The other part was the medical attention she required, something Asgard couldn't give her.

Thor still had the nail marks in his hand from where Jane had held on to him during the 'dilatation and curettage'. The doctors had assured Thor that she could feel no pain while they cleared out the last of her womb - and more importantly, Jane had too - but it hadn't stopped her from clinging to him like there was no tomorrow, her eyes screwed tightly shut until the procedure had been firmly over.

That had only been earlier that morning. Thor had been outraged at such a long wait since their arrival, but there was nothing he could do - especially after already being threatened with an armed escort from the hospital, _twice_, when he tried to push his point across!

The only thing they'd done in the mean time was call Pepper Potts, who generously organised residence for them to stay in, paid for by Tony Stark's credit card. She'd sounded particularly gleeful at mentioning the last part. Thor had vaguely wondered what the genius had done to irritate his woman this time, but the thought had quickly been driven from his mind when the day of the hospital procedure had drawn closer.

Jane's face had remained stony and tense all through the hospital visit, hardly saying a word other than to say she wanted a local anaesthetic and not a general. The doctor had quickly explained to Thor what that meant.

He half wished he'd insisted on Jane being put to sleep while the operation had taken place - God only knew she needed the rest! She hadn't even tried sleeping since her pregnancy had ceased. Thor knew she must be exhausted. The dark circles under her eyes betrayed her when she denied it.

He straightened up with a sigh and settled beside her on the couch. His efforts to try and peel the ice cream tub from her fingers were fruitess.

At least it had brought her spirit back though, biting back through her numb misery.

"I'm tired, I'm traumatised, and I can't feel my body from the waist below." she glared at him hard. "I'm entitled to a bit of ice cream."

Thor refused to submit: he leaned forward and used one hand to gently hold Jane's body back by her shoulder while his other pried the tub away until she was forced to let go. He set it down on the floor. Jane snatched her hand away when he tried to tenderly lace his fingers with hers.

"A bit, yes." he said, trying - and failing - to meet her angry eye with his. "But not an entire barrels worth. You would make youself ill."

That was one thing he regretted the most about his 'give Jane all the control' thing: she'd fallen flat when it had come to stocking the cupboards. She hadn't been interested in eating sensible - and if Thor was honest, neither was he when it came down to himself - and had consequently filled the kitchen with nothing more than liquor and ice cream. Lots of it. And she was making quick work of the sweets.

Jane crossed her arms tightly across her chest, eyes narrowed at the blank flat screen TV. "I'm already ill."

"No, you're not." Thor persisted. "You are simply upset."

He watched her pout, eyes narrowing further at the innocent television and knew he was right. A long sigh trailed from his lips, feeling his will started to bend; he handed back the ice cream tub begrudgingly.

Whether it made her ill or not, Thor didn't have the heart to deny her after all she'd been through. He'd seen how scared she'd been on the run up to the opertion that morning and that alone pulled his heart strings enough to be wrapped around her little finger. But when he'd seen all the _blood _after it, and knew that she was still bleeding... it damn near broke his soul in two.

He'd brought her here to help her recover. So far, he felt like he had failed.

Still, he had to remind himself, it was better than leaving her to face the procedure back in Asgard; there, there was no pain relief at all. That was the main thing that had driven him to Earth. The thought of how much pain his Jane would have been in was simply unimaginable.

Finally, Jane's eyes lifted from the tub back to Thor and froze when they drank in his wounded expression. Then it was her turn to sigh.

_No more ice cream for me then_, Jane thought briefly to herself before setting the tub down on the floor and reaching her arms out for him like a child. He leaned forward and scooped her up without hesitation, settling her on his lap, so her numb legs were either side of his hips.

Jane wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself in close. "I'm sorry." she murmured, brushing her lips against his. "You're right."

"Jane." he sighed. He touched his mouth to hers in the same feather light exchange she had done to him. "Do whatever you need to do. I do not care if all you want is to beat me senseless, just as long as it brings no harm to you. That is my one condition."

His arms circled firmly around her waist and held her close as he touched his lips to hers again, lingering for longer than he'd intended. He couldn't remember the last time they'd kissed. It felt like a lifetime. A deep stab of shame cut through him as the heat shot straight to his belly. For the first time, he was glad Jane was numb, feeling his need for her grow uncontrollably. Abstaining had been easy when there was a baby he'd wanted to protect. Now there was nothing - nothing but his primal instincts, fuelled by his grief, that longed to have Jane close to him again.

He forced himself to break the kiss, the sight of Jane's half closed eyelids almost snapping his will clean in half.

"I don't care." She brushed her lips more insistantly against his.

Thor groaned when he felt her tongue press urgently against his lips, practically demanding entrance to his mouth. His hands stiffened either side of her head and peeled her away from him. He tried to ignore his hammering heart. "Jane." he rasped, fighting with his natural impulses. "Now is not the time."

It was Jane turn to groan as Thor tore himself away, setting her back on the couch and reaching for the wad bandages on his wonder to the back of the couch, where the punching back hung from the ceiling. He'd spent a lot of time fighting it lately. Bandages around his knuckles, he took up his stance.

"Then when _is_ the time Thor?" Jane asked, pulling herself round to lean over the back o the couch. Her arms trembled slightly from the task. She stared at his back, his muscles already quaking beneath his white t-shirt even though he hadn't yet landed a blow. Her eyes lowered darkly when further words failed her.

Thor's fist thudded hard into the punching back. "Three weeks." he grunted between blows. "At least until you stop bleeding. As the doctor said."

"He also said I'd be extremely fertile for the next few weeks!" she half whined, eyes shooting up when unexpectedly replied to her. She wished he would just turn around and face her. "We could try again. As in - _try_. Not just a fluke like last time." _Like Anabelle was_, she corrected in her head. She still hadn't got used to saying her baby's name out loud yet.

"You would not be able to carry another child so soon." Thor rejected bluntly. "We were warned. You're body would not be strong enough and it would only cause you further harm."

"Thor..."

"No, Jane." The thuds ceased and Thor's hands fell to his sides again.

She sighed at his tone. He made her feel like a child, the stern warning in his voice that you simply didn't argue with.

Thor sighed heavily before he trudged round again, meeting Jane's eyes. They held a keen balance of anger and hurt. "You just had the insides of your womb scraped out and you want me to _make love _to you?!" He could hardly believe what he was hearing! Did she not understand how she was ripping him apart? He was torn between desire and diffidence, longing to take her as his but knowing it would only harm her - something he would never be able to do.

Jane dropped her gaze guiltily to the back of the couch, then let herself fall back freely so Thor was barred from view. Her ears couldn't be closed to his strangled groan of frustration though.

Her eyes blinked wetly at the ceiling. "I just want to be pregnant again." she murmured to no one in particular.

"I know."

A dull thud sounded and Jane imagined Thor slumped on the floor against the wall. It was hardly any wonder: while she'd sat on the sofa eating her ice cream for the last seven days, he'd been consistantly beating up the punching bag to let his pent up emotions out of his system. He must be exhausted.

"I should probably hit the gym then." Jane sighed dully, easing herself up the couch and propping her head on the arm of the sofa. Her hands folded over her stomach. "I need to lose this weight."

"Jane."

_That_ tone again. He wasn't happy. Jane held her breath as she heard the unmistakable sound of him shuffling, quickly followed by his slow footsteps. Her eyes watched him warily when he came into view across the couch.

"I can order you pizza, if you want." She said quickly before he beat her to it. "When was the last time you ate something?"

Thor opened his mouth instantly to tell her ... then he realised he didn't actually know. Nothing today. Nothing yesterday. He tried to figure it out in his head, but his mind fizzled and refused to work_. A long time_, he concluded to himself. _Too long._

A deep rumble from his stomach gave Jane her answer and her lips parted in a small subdued smile. "Phone." was all she said.

XXX

An hour later, Thor was delving into his third of five large pepperoni pizzas. Jane watched on from the other side of the couch in silence, hugging her arms around her legs to keep herself together. She was getting some feeling back now.

She gulped in a big breath, her thoughts no longer enough to satisfy her any more, feeling her hard emotions start to gain dangerous footing on her senses. Her eyes lifted to Thor. His crystal blue eyes were already watching her. "You want to cheer me up?" she asked starkly.

The pizza lowered instantly away from Thor's mouth. "Yes."

"Give me the book."

His brow furrowed - he thought they'd already crossed that bridge. "The book will not give you answers-"

"That's not what I want it for." she dismissed with an impatient wave. "Do you have it or not."

Thor's eyes scoured over her carefully before he even thought about answering: her eyes were fixed and determined, a dangerous but controlled blaze lighting them up. "Not." he finally said. "In our haste to leave, I left the guide in Asgard." Jane groaned and dropped her head to her hands. Thor still watched her curiously. "What did you want it for?"

She lifted her head, her empty hands clawing in the air. "To _burn_ it!"

Thor was only numbly aware of the slice of pizza in his hand falling back into the box - he knew Jane was tense but ... he'd never anticipated such a violent reaction! "You seem better."

Jane simply shrugged as Thor picked up his slice again and tore another mouthful from it. She couldn't deny it; being on Earth made her feel better. It made it all feel slightly less real, all her troubles - literally! - in another world now. She dreaded the day she would have to go back to Asgard, knowing return was inevitable. She figured it would take a big distraction to take keep her mind from spinning into turmoil.

"Here."

She blinked, and suddenly Thor was waving a fresh slice of his fourth pizza under her nose. Her hands reached for it automatically as the unsupported tip started to bow.

She blinked questioningly up at him over the food, waiting as he shoved a new slice in his mouth whole and chewed. His eyes sparkled. "You need to eat something too, Jane." he insisted in a warm, soft tone that Jane hadn't realised she'd missed until it shot comforting heat through her insides.

Her eyebrows moved skywards. "I've already eaten. Too much."

"Frozen sugar doesn't count." Thor discarded immediately. "You need something that will give you strength."

"So sugar is bad for me but grease, fat and cholesterol aren't?"

"You are refusing?"

"You didn't listen to me talk about losing weight earlier, did you?"

"Not a word."

A smile teased at Thor's lips as Jane's face blossomed with chuckles, her eyes dropping down to the junk food in her hands. Thor watched her carefully. She was small and fragile - ad yet she'd pulled through_ so much_. He wondered how on Earth she did it, but was quickly knocked back when he reminded himself just to be grateful that she did.

Finally, Jane took a small bite and chewed. A grimace soon followed. "That's not as nice as I remembered."

Thor chuckled and pushed the pizza box from his lap, pulling Jane in to replace it. Her eyes blinked up at him in suprise but soon settled when his strong arms wrapped around her body, holding her to his warm chest.

Her fingers flicked the pizza away before it was crushed between their two bodies, creeping her arms around his torso to return the embrace. God, this was what shed missed - being in his arms. Being held by _her_ god. That was why she loved him. He just had to give her a single hug, a single kiss, and she felt like nothing in the whole world could ever touch her.

She hugged him tight, never wanting to let go.

"Do you want to have kids with me?" her lips suddenly blurted as she felt Thor's thumbs stroke her back sweetly.

Her jaw dropped open in shock - had _she_ just asked him that?! Really?! Her eyes were wide as her body stiffened, trying to pull her body upright, but Thor's solid arms held her in place against him. Suddenly she was nervous as his silence hit her ears, his stillness bothering her.

Now she wanted an answer.

Slowly Thor started to come back to life, his lips starting to caress at the juncture of her jaw. His mouth started to trail kisses down her neck. "I want to have children with you, Jane Foster." he breathed heatedly against her skin, Jane arching her neck to give him better access to her throat. "Enough to fill the halls of Asgard tenfold."

Her fingers delved into his golden locks, anchoring him closer. Thor obliged, paying particular attention to a fond spot on the side of her neck until he was satisfied it would leave a bruising mark. His mark.

Jane sighed in content. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Thor moved his hands to grasp firmly at her hips, though he was unsure if she would feel it or not. She gave no indication either way, and Thor focussed instead on trailing open mouthed kisses down to her collar bone, the neck line of her button up shirt rustling.

"What if I can't carry your children?" Jane's hand suddenly fisted in his hair. "What if my body's just not compatable with a half Asgardian baby?"

He felt her chest swell with quickening breaths and Thor moved his hands to her hair, his lips finding hers again in a solid, deep kiss. He held her head still as he kissed her, tongue trailing the inside of her mouth, sweetly silencing her. "We shall see." he finally murmured, before nipping her mouth quickly with his. "In three weeks."

Jane heaved in a breath as Thor's possessive mouth released her, her body sub consciously leaning further into his. Thor moved his hands back to her hips to still her, the growing pressure in his groin testng his patience.

"You promise?" she gasped, resting her forehead against his. Her fingers played with his hair at the back of his neck.

"I promise." he sealed it with a fleeting kiss. "Three weeks. When you are recovered, we'll," the words stuck in his throat but he forced himself on. He wanted this more than anything, the emotion quite literally choking him. "We'll try again."

A small smile flickered over Jane's lips. "Then let the countdown begin."


	2. Three, Two, One, Go!

Thor sat bolt upright in bed as an unfamiliar sound ripped through the apartment. His frown furrowed his brow in seconds.

"Jane."

His hand gently nudged at her shoulder beside him, the sleeping woman lying flat on her front, tangled in the sheets. She groaned and stirred groggily. Her hair was a mass of wild dark tangles as she turned her head to glare at the god.

"What?" she droned, eyes already fluttering back to the depths of sleep. Not before she'd caught his face though; his his sharp gaze was locked on the bedroom door.

Vaguely, she knew that she should be alarmed - curious, at the very least, to see what had made her god so wary. Then she thought back to the blissful dream she'd been having and suddenly, she didn't care. She rolled over, turning her back to Thor and hugged the covers tighter around her.

"What is that noise?" he persisted, his voice tense.

Jane's brow started to furrow as she actually _listened_ to him, eyes still closed. "Noise?" her ears strained, but all she could hear was silence. "What noise?"

The bed shifted as Thor got up. Jane didn't mind, a sleepy smile tugging her lips: more covers for her. Her head relaxed back into the pillows, forehead smoothing out as she left Thor to his little mystery.

"It has since silenced." his low, distrusting voice explained. She could just imagine him pacing around their room, searching for ... well, whatever he was looking for. Jane half suspected he'd been dreaming. She couldn't hear a thing! "It sounded...like a thousand angry hornets. Though it was not consistent, as if one could close their ears to it and open them again like one of the switches for the lamps."

"Light switch, sweetie." Jane yawned.

Thor sighed, pausing in the corner of the room to sweep his eyes around it. Nothing. Nothing and silence. He was starting to question his sanity - when the sharp, grating buzz rattled through the apartment once more.

"There!" he cried, head darting from side to side as he searched for the source. It was impossible to pinpoint, echoing around without a fault in volume. Then almost as soon as he heard it, it vanished. His questioning eyes rolled back to Jane, surprised that she was still so content in the sheets. Surely she'd heard that!

She hummed and squirmed under the covers, face blissful and untroubled. "That's just the doorbell, Thor." she murmured. "Go back to sleep."

Then she listened to her own words.

Doorbell.

Ringing.

Her eyes snapped open: "Oh shit!"

Thor watched perplexed as Jane suddenly threw the covers back and leapt across the room, tearing her limbs free from the clingy blanket with manic haste. And she'd thought _he_ was strange! He followed her curiously as she fled through the bedroom door and across the apartment, crashing into the door. At least she was alert, Thor thought. Perhaps he might at last discover the source of the disturbance. His tense stance was dropped as he noticed the significant lack of fear in her face. Whatever it was, it was not a threat.

Jane's numb fingers fumbled with the catch on the door and finally latched on, swinging it open as wide as it would go.

A low whistle met her.

"Not your best look hun." Tony Stark peered at her sarcastically over the rim of his sunglasses. "I think bed head and boyfriends clothes were last season."

"Wha-" Jane's hands moved to pat down her hair, eyes shooting down to examine her clothes. Damn, Tony was right - she was even wearing Thor's shorts! Her mouth gaped in mild horror, mortified she'd been caught looking such a state. And by Stark no less! The man who would never let her forget it!

Thor's booming voice from the bedroom doorway ripped her back to focus. "My friend!" he grinned, striding forward. "It is good to see you. I hope you are well."

Stark whipped his sunglasses off as the god approached, eyes lightly frowned and laden with scrutinising sarcasm as Thor claimed his forearm in greeting. "Wow," he droned, taking in Thor's night shirt and trousers. His blonde hair was ruffled slightly, too. "Well, you two won't be winning any best dressed couple awards."

Jane ran a hand through her hair, sighing. "What are you doing here, Stark? And what time is it anyway?"

"A billionaire can't casually drop in on his favourite astrophysicist and thunder god?" his face twitched in a fleeting grin, before going back to business. "Pepper's idea. She's on the way, bringing enough food to feed a whole third world country. She's under the impression that you've not been eating properly. And as for the second," he nudged up the sleeve of his flawless black suit, glancing down at his Rolex. "It's eight in the evening. So either you've given yourselves the bedtime of a five year old or you took the Twlight addiction a step too far and converted into vampires. Which is it?"

"Tony!"

Jane was saved the task of thinking of an equally quippy reply when a familiar face fit into the door frame beside Tony's. Familiar _and _welcome, this time.

Jane smiled wide. "Pepper."

Pepper Potts nudged her way past her genius of a boyfriend, made easier with the sharp points of the cardboard box she held to arm herself. She set the miniature crate down on the floor before Jane threw her arms around her neck.

Thor smiled on as he watched the women hug each other tight. He didn't think he'd seen Jane so happy in all the time they'd been on Earth! Her smile gleamed over Pepper's shoulder like a star to him, his heart glimmering with warmth to see Jane smile like that - _really _smile. He half wished it never had to end, but the beam stayed in place long after they parted regardless.

"Oh yeah," Stark suddenly cut in, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. "We brought Wonder Boy along to the party too."

Steve Roger's glared as stepped past Stark into the apartment, arms bearing another large box almost identical to Peppers. He set it down beside hers before nodding politely to Thor.

"Hey." he said, meeting Thor's outstretched arm. "Long time no see."

"Too long, my friend." the god chuckled, before handing Rogers over to one of Jane's bone crushing hugs.

"Flag Boy here's become like our adopted pet." Stark said, leaning his suave shoulder against the doorframe. "Just feed him, take him for walks, fresh water every day..." the genius trailed off after Rogers sent a dark glare his way. "Actually, we're just introducing him to the twenty first century. Isn't that right, Cap?"

The Captain had barely opened his mouth to reply, before Pepper cut him off, fussing over Jane as her eyes roamed up and down her freshly woken form.

"How_ are _you?" she exclaimed, holding Jane at arms length as she scoured over her. "I meant to come to see you after the D&C, but _somebody_ decided to extend our trip in Moscow for another three weeks. Didn't they, Tony?"

"Yeah," the billionaire brushed a speck of imperfection from his suit distractedly. "Blame Jarvis."

The women rolled their eyes simultaneously, exchanging a _look._

"Pepper told us what happened." Steve said in a suddenly sombre tone, his eyes gleaming empathetically at Thor. The god's heart dropped when he realised what the captain was talking about. "I'm so sorry about the baby."

Thor's eyes darted instinctively to Jane. If his chest was clenching as painfully as this, he was more than anxious to be sure she was not feeling anything worse. _Of course she is_, a snide voice cut through his head, eyes scouring over Jane's suddenly bowed head and averted gaze. The god cut through the party of friends and wrapped an arm around his woman, drawing her to his side. Her hand moved to clutch his shirt instantly.

She fixed a less than convincing smile on her face. "Thanks Steve."

"Yeah, thanks Steve." Stark cut in from the doorway. "Way to bring the mood down. I'm sure they were absolutely_ dying _to talk about their dead baby!" Jane flinched. Stark's hard exterior cracked. "Sorry."

Pepper sighed, eyes rolled to the ceiling. "How 'bout you do everyone a favour Tony and just go and wait in the car?"

Thor couldn't help but smirk as Tony threw his palms up defensively, and threw the god a look with eyebrows raised. Thor recognised that look; he'd sent it back at Tony plenty of times in the past. He was careful not to glance down at Jane beside him, knowing full well that she also recognised _the look_. Thor was always careful never to tell her what it meant though.

_Women!, _his brain translated for him, before the billionaire slunk out of sight down the corridor.

Then Pepper went into business mode: "I've brought over enough meals to feed you guys for a month 'cos I had a feeling you wouldn't be taking proper care of yourselves food wise. And judging by the pizza and ice cream boxes by the sink, I think I was right."

Jane's hand touched to her forehead - half to hide the flush of shame that coloured her cheeks at the mess in the kitchen being discovered. She knew she should have at least sent Thor out with the trash. Hadn't her inner voice been warning her for days? "Pep, this is totally unnecessary."

Silence washed the apartment. The last of Jane's dignity fell through the floor as all eyes turned to her - even Thor's! - all holding the same disbelieving, 'poor thing, she really things she's coping' sort of look. A small, polite smile graced Pepper's lips as she simply looked at her freind. Jane screwed her eyes shut in embarrassment and leaned into Thor's chest some more.

Only when the sound of Steve slowly resuming his unpacking of the boxes in the kitchen hit her ears again, did she peek her narrowed gaze open. God, they were treating her like a kid.

_Mind you_, a logical voice said in her head, _perhaps you need it._

Jane sighed, forcing herself to admit that the thinned, unkempt woman wearing her boyfriends shabby clothes _was _actually her. _Yeah, okay_, she finally conceded_. I need help._

Her eyes lifted to Pepper.

The efficient woman leapt straight back into her stride. "I thought so." She smiled. "I've also organised for some more clothes to arrive here for you guys by tomorrow and from what I see now, that was a God-sent idea! Local gym membership is in place for Thor and here's the number of a car for you guys. It'll take you anywhere you want to go, available twenty four hours. Tony doesn't use much of his chauffeur service and it's a shame to let it go to waste."

Jane took the slip of paper with the digits on it wordlessly, her mind working furiously to take in the onslaught of information.

Finally, she remembered how to use her jaw again. "Pepper, how-"

"I've seen you in a crisis, Jane." Pepper cut off before she could ask. "When the boy's went to do their thing in New York and we had to practically force feed you, half drown you in the shower... you shut down. And I thought that if Thor was anything like you were, you'd need all the help you can get." she shrugged, a twinkle in her eye. "Call me fairy godmother."

Jane didn't think it was possible for her to blush more, but she was proved wrong as Pepper span it all out to Thor. She hadn't told her god about how she'd gone to pieces during the whole stopping-the-invasion-of-the-world thing. The unmistakable tingle of Thor's sharp gaze on her reminded her why - he'd fip.

She cleared her throat quickly. "Anything else, oh efficient one? Or can I go back to sleep now?"

Pepper smirked. "I brought you tablets for that too. I wasn't sure if you'd be having trouble."

_Oh God, there's no escape_, Jane thought with rolling eyes. Next they'd have monitors on the bedside tables to listen for when she cried! It was all in good faith - and Jane knew she desperately needed the help! - but her pride simply couldn't take it. It was so patronising! As if she couldn't take care of herself! She wasn't - but it didn't mean she couldn't!

Or, at least, that's what she told herself.

"You missed that phase." Jane sighed reluctantly, pressing a hand back to her forehead. "I'm practically comatose now."

Sleep had hit back with a vengence. For her weeks of insomnia, she never would have anticipated she'd end up sleeping as often and as much as she did now. She guessed that at first she'd been scared of dreams - but then she found out she was so exhausted her brain didn't have any power to spare on dreams! So she'd been forced to let her body crash and get the rest it so desperately craved.

"You're generosity is much appreciated, Lady Pepper." Thor's low, rumbling voice interupted her throughts. "Perhaps you and I should discuss further what occured during my absence."

Jane flew out of his arms. "No!" She insisted quickly. "That won't be necessary."

Thor arched a sceptical eyebrow at her. Okay, she caved in her mind, she deserved that. Her eyes flashed urgently to Pepper, sending her best 'don't tell him anything!' rays. Pepper's mischevious smirk told her she'd got the message.

Her heart sank with dread. "You've been hanging out with Stark too much." Jane accused, folding her arms across her chest. "He's made you mean."

"Ha! Make sure to tell him that. He'll be very proud."

"Pepper." Steve called from the kitchen, boxes near empty. _Damn_, Jane thought, impressed, breaking through her mild irritation. She should get the Captain to teach Thor how to do that! "We should go or we'll miss the reservation."

Thor frowned, stepping up to lace an arm around Jane's shoulders again. She was too busy matching his frown to shrug him off. "Reservation?"

"For dinner." Pepper explained flawlessly, crossing over to the kitchen to Steve and the boxes, leaving Jane and Thor to frown at her back. "And you're coming."

Thor's heart leapt with instant joy, forgetting his suspicion about Jane's past actions entirely - he was looking forward to being able to eat something other than delivery pizza at last!

Suddenly he noticed that Stark hadn't been the only one dressed in a suit: Steve was also dressed in noticably smart clothing, while Pepper wore an elegant royal blue dress matched with impressive heels. He half wondered how he hadn't noticed it before! He started to feel very self conscious in his own shabby appearence, wishing he'd at least had the foresight to put on some jeans before leaving the bedroom.

A part of him couldn't help but stubbornly point out he was at least in better form than Jane. Though they both looked equally unkempt, at least Thor had used his own clothes to achieve it!

Jane's jaw fell open, noticing the couples attire for the first time as well. "W-we don't have anything to wear."

Pepper's sigh was more than audible as she bent over one of the boxes and straightened up again, hands busy with fresh cargo. "Hence," she turned on her heel, the two pressed outfits danging from hangers off her fingertips. "Why I brought these."

XXX

Jane hated dresses. She hated them. And she hated this one even more than she hated the dresses back in Asgard. She was simply too fond of her jeans and leggings to like dresses.

But sat there in the middle of the most expensive restaurant Jane had ever seen - let alone eaten in! - she was conscious that the outfit could have been worse. It wasn't clingy, at least. It was a nice shade of purple, hugging her bust and flowing out around her hips from the thin belt at her waist. She still didn't like it, but it could be worse.

She kept thinking the words over and over again, as she pushed the food endlessly around her plate: it could be worse.

And then it got worse.

A bleep interupted Tony and Pepper fussing about some twelve per cent business and Jane tore for her phone to silence the reminder. Her fingers jabbed madly at the buttons, ignoring the bemused stares that followed her.

Including Thor's. She hadn't told him she'd_ really _set a countdown.

Her eyes crept up to the table, the same questioning look in each gaze she met. Her reaction probably hadn't won her any subtlety awards!

"Er..." God, she panicked. How could she pass off this one?! "Nothing."

She couldn't. She rolled her eyes at her pathetic excuse as soon as everyone else had resumed their conversation. Except Thor, she noticed. He was still frowning at her, gazing dripping with concern.

Good, she thought, an idea forming quickly in her head. Maybe she'd give him a chance to redeem himself.

She cleared her throat, and rose from the table.

Again, the attention flew to her.

She kept her gaze calmly - or as calmly as she could muster - on Thor, knowing her nerve would break as soon as she looked at any of her friends. Her teeth gritted subtly in her attempt to compose herself. "Thor," she forced out, smiling sweetly. Her god of a boyfriend blinked up at her from across the table. "Can I talk to you for a minute please?"

The god's eyes shifted briefly to their company, brow furrowing. "Now?" he asked. "But Jane-"

"Now!"

Her tone slipped with her patience.

She turned and walked briskly to the nearest corner of privacy in the restaurant, breathing a heavy sigh of relief when she heard Thor scramble clumsily behind her. She'd trained him well. Or maybe he was just naturally scared of that tone.

_He should be_, Jane thought to herself bitterly as she turned the corner and realised with dismay that there were only more diners that way.

Desperately, her eyes scoured around. All they found was the door to the ladies bathroom behind her.

_That'll have to do_, she sighed in her head.

Thor finally caught up with her and she latched onto his collar, pulling him towards the bathroom. She ignored his protests.

She was glad he didn't force her to stop. He was probably trying to avoid a scene, she thought to herself. That was fine with her; the drama could unfold behind the closed doors of the bathroom.

"Jane!" he finally blurted as she hauled him through the doors, forcing him inside and ramming the door stop in place to seal them in.

Jane didn't care. She knew he was alarmed - and honestly, he had every right to be. Even Jane was surprised at her behaviour! Thor simply watched her with frowning eyes as Jane marched the side of the bathroom. She did a quick sweep under the cubicle doors before she straightened up, satisfied.

"Jane, I cannot be here. This is not proper."

A exasperated sigh left her lips. "Thor." she span round to face him, her gaze dark and demanding as she advanced a step. "Do you remember what you promised me?"

Thor's frown deepened. His gaze was blank with confusion. "What-"

"Three weeks," Jane explained for him, moving closer. "Three weeks and you promised we could try again. That buzz on my phone announced the end of those three weeks." She closed the gap and fisted her hands in his suit, tugging him reluctantly nearer. "Pay up."

Thor's hand closed over hers, his startled eyes oblivious to her hard gaze. "Jane, this is madness-"

"You promised!"

"I did not anticipate you would expect me to fulfill that promise in a restroom!" he hissed back, peeling her clenching fingers from his collar and straightening his clothes.

Jane glared at him.

_God, he looked good_, she couldn't help but think. Steve had done a good job of smartening him up; the suit looked simply delicious over Thor's muscular body, his blond hair combed back neatly, only making his bold blue eyes stand out sharper. Jane swore he'd done it to tease her, as he denied her now. It should be criminal to look that gorgeous and irresistable in public!

She pouted up at him imploringly, going for the sweet tactic.

It didn't work: "I am not making love to you in a restroom!" Thor spelled out for good measure.

Her Bambi eyes narrowed. _So much for sweet_, she thought bitterly. Her hand gripped his shirt and tie and pulled him forward. "Look you." she snapped in his face. "We had a deal. I've stopped bleeding and I've been patient for three long weeks. You _promised_."

"Jane, can you hear yourself?" Thor persisted, though he made no move to her hands this time. She'd only grab him again even if he did. "You want our child to be conceived here?!"

"For God's sake, when did you become such a nun?!"

Her eyes bore into his, watching his own frustration rise to match hers. Frustration, Jane realised with satisfaction. Not reluctance or irritation - _frustration._

He was battling with himself.

Jane moved her fingers from his shirt to rake through his hair, disrupting the once perfect locks as she achored him closer. Her mouth brushed against his before he could react, hips rolling forward enticingly. She knew which side of his inner struggle she was rooting for!

His hands shot to grip tightly at her wrists. They didn't pull her away though.

A smile flickered across Jane's face when she looked up into Thor's eyes; his orbs were pleasantly dark and needy. "Jane."

Jane crashed her mouth on his the moment he sighed her name, her desperation getting the best of her once and for all. She wasn't the only one, she noted with smug satisfaction as Thor's hands wound tightly around her waist, drawing her in before he moved to grip her hips.

He hitched her shirt up and they both surendered.


	3. Trouble In Paradise

Thor crashed flat on his back, exhausted.

"Er, guys." the drolling voice of Tony Stark called across his private gym, pausing in his weight lifting to frown down at the floored god. "Thunder's down."

Thor stared at the ceiling, the weight of the dumbbell pinning his hand to the ground. It may be the heaviest weight available in Stark's establishment, but still...he should be able to lift that in his sleep!, he thought to himself with a light frown. How could he be struggling so much with such a simple task? Why was he so weak?

The answer was simple: Jane.

"Whoa."

The faces of Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner swam through the god's confused vision, seconds before the pressure was lifted from his hand. He made no effort to move though.

"You okay there, buddy?" Bruce's hand clapped down on his shoulder, offering his other spare.

Thor took it reluctantly and groaned as the scientist helped him upright. He didn't remember being so tired in all his life! He was left panting slightly as he sat amongst his discarded weights, friends stood around him with looks of utter bemusement on their faces - never in all their wildest dreams had they anticipated they'd ever see the God of Thunder at his limits. Especially while they themselves were still happily energetic! None of them could hide the smugness tweaking their grins slightly.

A long sigh left Thor's lips and he ran a hand over his face. "I think I should retire, my friends. This visit has been more taxing than I anticipated."

He moved to pick himself up from the ground. Then his knees buckled beneath him and he crashed back down again. A dull ache swept through his body, weighing down his muscles like iron. He tipped his head back against the floor and groaned loudly, screwing his eyes shut.

"Or you could just... lie there. Yeah, why not?"

"Stark."

Frustrated thoughts crashed through Thor's mind. "I can't believe this." he murmred more to himself than anyone else, though the words drew his friends attention firmly back down to him again.

Steve crouched down beside him. "What's going on, big guy? Trouble in paradise?"

"Paradise..." a small smile flickered over Thor's lips before he crept his eyes open again, and forced his trembling arms to lift him upright again. He swept his gaze over his friends, sighing heavily as he realised they weren't going to leave him be while he was in this state. "I wish it were so."

It seems his chastity had caused them to miss that 'ultra-fertile' period that Jane had been so excited about; nearly two months after the restroom incident in the restaurant and they were no closer to being parents than they had been at Anabelle's funeral.

They had leapt to the oppertunity with vigour. It made Thor cringe at how much time he and Jane spent locked up in the bedroom since the three week abstaining period had ended, but it made his heart tug when he realised their efforts were still without results. His hopes had raised sky high with Jane's to begin with, the chance to have the child they'd originally been promised too joyous to ignore. Now, that same hope was crumbling bitterly around their feet.

He remembered Jane's face when she'd recieved her period the week after eating out with Pepper, Tony and Steve: she'd been devastated, sealing herself in the bathroom for three distraught hours.

His chest caved painfully when he realised there was nothing he could do to comfort her.

"How's the whole baby making thing going anyway?" Starks blunt voice cut through his thoughts, dragging him unwillingly back to the present.

Thor groaned and threw himself down again, tossing an arm over his eyes.

"Not well, huh?"

Thor didn't understand it! By Jane's logic he'd managed to get her pregnant within days when they'd been back in Asgard. Did Earth somehow make him sterile or something? It shouldn't be as hard as it was proving to be, a voice told him in his head.

"Have you considered taking a break?" Steve chipped in cautiously. "You know, maybe it's better to just wait a year or so. Get married or something in the mean time. That's bound to be on your agenda, right?"

"No," the god growled instantly. "Jane wants this child." She wants it more than anything, he added in his head.

He dragged his arm from across his face and hauled himself upright for the third time, making a mental note to stay this way; he wasn't sure he had the will to pick himself up from the floor again! His gaze glowered with dark frustration as the thoughts weighed through his head.

He could marry Jane... but that wasn't what she wanted right now. Months ago, they'd been fully prepared to get married after the birth of their child, after Anabelle. Even though that hadn't worked out, the plan still seemed fused in place. Their minds had been set on it, even through the loss of their daughter. Baby first. Wedding later. They wanted the child they'd been denied.

"What I don't get is why Jane's so eager to try again." Stark wondered aloud. "I thought women were supposed to hate being pregnant. And I would have thought that the whole Anabelle thing would have, you know, put her off."

"Yeah," Steve picked up. "When we went out she still seemed... well, troubled by it. You saying she's over that now?"

Thor sighed for what felt like the hundredth time, searching for words to explain it to his friends. How did he explain this? This burning longing for a child. That hole that Anabelle carved in their souls still gaping, waiting to be filled in the way only a baby could.

"Jane..." he started carefully, "Does not take rejection lightly. It is a matter of pride. She feels she was robbed of Anabelle. She was so prepared to become a mother and I fear that determination has not left her." A small smile flickered over his lips as he retraced his own feelings, a glimmer of warmth shooting through his system at the fond memories. He remembered how excited they'd been at the prospect of being parents. He'd trade anything for them to feel that again. "We were graced with a glimpse of what it would be like to have our own family. It is a hard thing to simply let go of."

A moment of silence washed over the Avengers as the god's words sunk in, leaving him to his dreamy thoughts for a moment longer.

It had to be Tony that broke it: "Kids - ew." his nose crinkled, wondering round to the back of the god and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Still, to me it sounds like you're having problems in a, er, _that _department." His eyebrows lifted suggestively, putting his unspoken meaning across.

Thor's eyes narrowed instinctively, defensiveness tingling his every sense with stubborn pride. "I am not!" he fired back, a little harsher than he intended, causing Tony's hand to fly from his shoulder.

Well, he wasn't ... was he?

It had never occured to him that the source lay with either him or Jane as individuals; he'd always assumed it was simply bad fortune. A long, painful stretch of bad fortune. His brow furrowed as the idea that he was indeed failing Jane sunk in distressingly deep. What if it was him? What if, for reasons he couldn't understand, he was suddenly unable to give her the baby she craved? Had his grief for Anabelle somehow ... how could he phrase this? - _lessened_ his _abilities_?

"He might have a point, Thor." Steve interuped Thor's worried inner monologue. "Have you and Jane been to the doctor? I'm sure they can give you some advice."

"They can do better than that now Steve," Bruce grinned, smirking slightly at his friends lack of knowledge of the modern century. "They can give you drugs to increase fertility, implant fertilised eggs... all sorts."

Thor's brow furrowed instantly. Though the thought that there were options to aid them in their efforts for a child was indeed comforting, the list that Dr Banner went on to give them did nothing to encourage him. He did not like the idea of their child being conceived through a test tube or through the effects of medication. That was not how he wanted it to happen.

_Still_, a voice chipped in his head. A baby was a baby. They were getting all sorts of desperate now. Nothing should be ruled out if it could give them what they needed, even if it was through... undesirable means.

He ran a hand through his hair, his overwhelming disappointment and frustration eased somewhat after confiding in his comrades. Though he was still left exhausted; so many new concerns now clouded his mind. The worry about their inability to conceive remained ... and now it was joined by the additional fear that it might be _his _fault! _Great_, he grimaced in his head.

His eyes flickered up to his friends and Steve caught the hint first, reaching down a helpful hand. Their combined efforts pulled Thor to his feet.

"Thank you." he breathed, sweeping his gaze with a grateful nod around his group of friends. "You have given me much to consider." _Perhaps too much_, he added silently in his head, feeling the pressure weigh down on his shoulders.

He couldn't get it out of his mind. What if it _was _him? It could be him. Such things weren't really considered in Asgard, the matter never even crossing his mind. When he'd agreed with Jane to try again for a child, he'd just assumed it would be as easy as it had been the first time. It'd been so easy with Anabelle they hadn't even realised she'd existed until Jane was already a month gone! Based on that... he'd guessed their second child would come just as effortlessly. They both had.

Thor walked back into his and Jane's apartment, feeling dull and heavy. He wasn't even alarmed when Jane wasn't there to greet him, walking lazily to where he knew her to be.

The bathroom.

He reached for the door handle, not even glancing through the fogged glass anymore. _Period or pregnancy _test, he thought to himself. It was going to be one or the other that had her cooped up in there. His eyes stayed lowered, semi-anxious to what he might find. It took him a handful of strides to realise that he was actually alone.

A frown creased his frown in a heartbeat. "Jane?" His voice echoed back at him around the bathroom, his face the only one peering back at him in the small mirror.

He retraced his steps with urgency. Not in the living space. Not in the kitchen. Not in the bedroom, and not in the bathroom. Could it be - throat drying at the thought - that Jane had actually _left_ the apartment?

For a moment, the god wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned with the undeniable fact.

Jane was... gone.

_Gone where?, _he found himself instantly wondering. He was more than happy that Jane had somehow rediscovered the world beyond the apartment front door again, but at the same time it felt too much like he'd lost her. He wanted to know where she was, to see it with his own eyes.

... but how did a Norse god with no phone, no car and no set of connections find one woman in the Californian city? It was doomed from the start.

Thor called Mjolnir to his fist, hearing the weapon crash through the wood of the bedroom wardrobe seconds before it's pressure was in his hand. He needed to feel something that reassured him, trying to force his mind to stay calm.

_Think_, he told himself, feeling his magestic armour peel magically over his body, erasing the grubby gym clothes he'd worn before. He was a god again. Back in control.

And Jane was still gone.

He fought the urge to run his fingers through his hair in frustration. She's probably fine, he told himself. She might be hanging out with Pepper, in the same way he'd been hanging out with the Avengers. All the same, Thor wanted to see her.

His hammer flew him back to Stark tower, striding himself through hurriedly from the balcony.

The Avengers were there to greet him, an unsettling look of urgency on their faces. Not good.

"Where is she?" he demanded in a heartbeat, phasing into a form of battle mode. His senses snapped sharply alert, adrenaline surging through his body as if he were unstoppable - yet a part of him was scared and concerned, swamped with worry for his woman. It was a sensation he'd only been exposed to since Jane had walked into his life.

Steve's focussed eyes found his, but he couldn't fight off the glistening concern that punctured his blue orbs. "Thor-"

"Where is she?!"

The god was dangerous and he could feel it. Something was wrong, something he didn't know about. Something that concerned him. And if it concerned him, it concerned Jane. The thought alone turned his blood to ice.

His hard gaze scoured around the faces of his friends, commanding a straight answer. He needed to know. He needed to know why he felt so sick with dread.

Tony took up the task. "Hospital." he barked sharply. "Pepper's with her now."

Thor felt like his consciousness had fled his body. Everything felt numb. A fleeting worry crossed his mind about whether he would drop Mjolnir, his fingers slipping, or if his knees would give out beneath him - but that was all sharply shoved aside as Tony's words dug into his bones. Jane was in _hospital. _His Jane was in hospital.

His chest stopped working, lungs and heart frozen with horror. "W-what?" he gasped. His mind was spinning. Gods, he hoped he would not pass out. Not now.

"She collapsed. That's all I -"

"Which way?" Thor cut off, feeling suddenly shooting harshly back through his body.

Steve just blinked at him for a blank moment, somewhat alarmed by the abrupt change in the god. He looked ready to kill now! The knuckles on the hand clenched around Mjolnir were bone white, his eyes glowering with a look that was almost deadly. The superhuman could swear he could almost hear Thor's teeth grating.

"_Which way_?"

Stark was quicker to react, Steve still stunned. The genius's arm lifted west: "That way."


	4. Eureka!

The Thunder God marched through the hospital doors with a colossal bang, the sound echoing in his wake. _Bring on the security guards_, he thought, eyes glowering at a passing - more retreating - doctor challengingly. With his armour, hammer, and murderous expression, he doubted anything could stop him.

The woman at the desk had almost had a heart attack when he'd demanded the location of his beloved, earning it seconds. The clerk had leafed through her technology as if her life depended on it.

Someone's may have, but not hers. Thor didn't hit women.

The unmistakable form of Pepper Potts was pacing outside the allotted room, confirming that Thor had the right place. Her eyes were wide when she caught sight of him.

"Thor, I'm so sorry!" she blurted, looking out of her mind with panic. Her usually perfect hair was ruffled on one side, her hands twisting after she'd pulled one down from gnawing at her thumb. She closed the gap between her and Thor as the thunderous god stormed closer. "I don't know what happened. We were just out shopping and-"

"I care not." he said darkly, sweeping her aside with as much delicacy as his raging emotions would allow. It was enough to keep her on her feet at least.

He was suprised his glowering gaze didn't burn holes in the wooden door that sealed his beloved from view as he approached, a logical voice in his head reminding him not to simply break down the structure in his impatience. Something cracked as his fist closed around the door knob. He didn't knock, he didn't wait - he strode straight inside without hesitation.

His scouring blue eyes found Jane in the hospital bed in a heartbeat.

"Jane."

He was at her side in seconds, Mjolnir falling to the floor with a thud that twanged somewhere between metallic and magical.

Thor wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but was relieved that he found her as she was. No blood, no expression of pain - just round, bright eyes, hands twisting nervously in her lap. She looked almost innocent! Her gaze dented hard when she saw him. Thor could practically see her heart sink. Mercifully, she still wore her day clothes and not the ghastly hospital gown she'd been made to wear for the D&C.

_Good_, Thor thought as his fingers claimed hers, kneeling at her bedside. A fleeting visit. His eyes screened over her face all the same, searching for a trace of illness or ailment that harmed his Jane.

"You can't just walk in here!" a voice on the other side of the bed protested. "Not without the express permission of my patient."

Thor's suddenly deadly glower lifted to the man who challenged his presence. He hadn't even noticed the doctor before then. The young man flinched slightly under the god's viscious glare, staggering back a step and bearing his palms as much as the clipboard he held would allow.

"It's okay." Jane said quickly to the young man. "I'm going anyway." She turned her gaze back to her blazing boyfriend, squeezing his fingers just a tad tighter to reassure him.

Thor's hard gaze didn't ease up.

The god's heart softened slightly at Jane's small - albeit nervous and somewhat embarrassed - smile, but it took a few more moments of glaring to put the young man back in his place. Finally, the sensible voice in Thor's head decided to let the doctor stay.

Thor tore his gaze back to Jane's face, hand lifting to cup her cheek. She leaned into the warm touch instantly, letting Thor's concerned blue orbs flitter over every inch of her. His brow furrowed sligtly: she looked paler than he remembered. Worryingly so.

"Miss Potts said you collapsed." he murmured numbly, thumb brushing stray stands of dark hair from her face.

Jane nodded, her gaze quickly averting as her legs started to squirm.

Thor wasn't in a patient mood: his hand found her thigh and gently pinned it down over the sheet. She wasn't going anywhere. "What happened?"

He didn't miss the way she gulped, moving her hand to thread her fingers with his over her cheek as if to hold him there. That made him more than anxious: what on Earth was she going to tell him?

"It's not that big a deal." she finally said after sucking in a deep breath. Her gaze was calmer than Thor had expected it to be when she lifted it to his. "I called Pepper after you left so I didn't have to be on my own. We went shopping and... " her brow furrowed slightly as if she struggled to remember it. "I just swooned. It was weird..." she mused, more to herself than to him. "I never faint, not for anything."

For a moment, all Thor did was stare, drinking it in. She made it sound so ... harmless. Her eyes lifted timidly up to his and she shrugged. Shrugged. Thor's eye twitched - how could she be so carefree about this?!

Then a low rumble left his chest. "Jane Foster, you fool." he growled, hand easing her face forward to press his mouth hard over hers.

Pulling away was harder than he anticipated.

"You're wife had low blood sugar levels when she came in." the doctor chipped in, drawing the couples attention simultaneously. "Have you been eating properly, Mrs Foster?"

The god's gaze drained along with the colour in his face, jaw falling open numbly.

"_Miss_ Foster." Jane corrected with pinkening cheeks, glancing at the stunned Thor beside her. "We ... um... we're not married."

_Yet_, Thor sensed belonged on the end of that stammering sentence. He was still too baffled to voice it aloud though. His gaze lowered to hover over Jane and the embarrassed smile that stretched her lips. She was _smiling_. Jane smiling was such a rare occurance nowadays Thor couldn't help but think it looked strange on her face.

Her eyes were down on her lap, before she finally pressed her lips together and lifted them up to the doctor again. "And I have been eating right. Haven't I, Thor?"

The god merely pulled a face. He wouldn't say right; he'd say better. True, she'd been eating more regularly and more healthily - greatly influenced by Peppers donated reserves - but her eating habits were still not up to a standard he was happy with. He knew she ate at least one solid meal a day, and that in itself was an improvement from a few months ago.

But there were some days, he remembered. Day's when he'd wake up and she'd say she'd already had breakfast while he'd been asleep. Or when he'd come home and she'd said she'd had lunch with Pepper.

Those days worried him. But he was too afraid of her progress reverting in anger to confront her.

In his heart though, he knew she was lying.

A subtle smirk flickered over the doctor's lips. "I'm sorry for the confusion." His twinkling eyes didn't look sorry at all. "Have you been taking part of any strenuous activity, lately then? Any stress?"

The blush on Jane's cheeks flushed scarlet. Thor simply grinned - _strenuous activity _was one way of describing it, he thought.

Jane's fingers twisted awkwardly in his, but he refused to let them go. "We've ..." her eyes flickered to Thor, but he simply lifted his eyebrows at her suggestively.

He liked this doctor after all, the god decided. He'd managed to get his Jane to smile. And somehow, she wasn't angry! Or irritable. It was heartwarming to see his Jane so relaxed. Well - not relaxed exactly, tensing and squirming out of pure embarrassment as her cheeks flamed. Thor loved it all the same, the adrenaline from his anger melting into unfathomable adoration for the woman in the bed. He felt like he had his Jane back at last, the woman he fell in love with revived.

"We've been trying for a, um..." her head lowered and the word 'baby' was almost inaudible as she murmured.

Thor's hand found it's way back to her cheek and guided her to him for a quick kiss. God, he loved her all over again. He'd missed this softer side of her. And the colour of her cheeks was a stark, comforting difference to her chalk paleness of before.

His lips stilled as ice washed through his veins. What was he doing? Flashes of her earlier appearance shot through his head and his stomach knotted sickeningly with guilt. Jane was in hospital after collapsing, and he was _happy_? He cursed himself for his carelessness.

His hand slipped from her cheek numbly, his gaze falling to his chest.

Guilt and remorse that he knew should not rightfully belong to him kneaded through his system. "If I had stayed, could this have been avoided?" he asked quietly.

Something else that was his fault. Not only could he not give her a child, he was now putting her in hospital too. He should have been there. He should have stayed with her that morning - he hadn't even wanted to go to Stark Tower in the first place! He'd just been too bored with the sight of the inside of the apartment to bear it anymore. If only he'd gritted his teeth and got on with it. Or just taken Jane with him! Would that have been so hard?

He wasn't sure who'd he'd even asked the question to, but it was the doctor that answered him: "I don't think so." he said softly, trying his best to be reassuring. As reassuring you can be when the comfortee in question is coated in armour and was weilding a hulking great hammer when he walked through the door!

Thor lifted his gaze, eyes bearing hard into those of the doctor. His fist clenched at his side. "Then what caused this?"

The doctor's eyes moved across to Jane. "How have you been sleeping?"

Jane shifted awkwardly in the bed, hand rising to rub the back of her neck guiltily. "Not consistently," she confessed slowly, avoiding the doctor's eye. "But when I do sleep I sleep well."

It was a bad, growing habit. Buzzed with frustration one day and crippled with it the next. She ended up staying awake for days at a time while Thor kept up a sensisble routine, only for her body to crash soon after, sending her into an almost comatose state for the rest of the week. It was becoming too regular to go unnoticed anymore. Thor had warned her.

His dark gaze reminded her of that.

"I should have taken better care of you." he growled to himself, rising to his feet out of Jane's reach.

Her fingers reached for his armour instantly. "Thor..."

He shook his head darkly and peeled her away.

_So that was it_, the god thought to himself, staggering back a step: her lack of food and sleep had caused her fall. And he'd done nothing to stop it. He felt numb. He'd known Jane was far from perfect when it came to her eating and sleeping... but he never anticipated it would leave her in hospital! When had it gotten so severe? He hated himself for not doing more, for not being more insistent.

Suddenly, petit hands cupped his face and Jane filled his vision. He frowned again - when had she left the bed? His hand hovered at the small of her back, ready to catch her if she faltered. She looked as steady as a rock though.

"Thor, look at me." she demanded softly. Thor reluctantly complied, lifting his wounded blue eyes to her solid brown ones. "It's not your fault, okay." she told him. "It's just something that happened. We know what happened now and we can stop it. I'll eat whatever you tell me to and I'll sleep, I promise."

She leaned up to try and peck a kiss on his lips, but he was too tall and she came no where near close. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in for a hug instead.

"Miss Foster, would you object to further testing?"

Jane peeled her head from Thor's chest and twisted slightly in his arms, frowning. "What sort of testing?" she asked tentatively.

She wasn't the only one suspicious: Thor's hand tightened noticably at her waist, head jerking upright again. His sharp eyes bore into the doctor.

"You're notes say you had a D&C." the young man explained unfazed. "If you're not convinced that your eating habits were responsible for your collapse, then it might be possible some tissue was left behind from the procedure and your body is having a negative reaction to it. It would be simple to check if you'd be willing. And if you have been struggling physically, your body many not have had the strength to expell it naturally."

Jane blinked, eyes roaming round in thought. "I have been getting cramps." she murmured, as if to herself. Then her eyes snapped to the doctor. "Is that what it's been?"

Her eyes flickered worriedly to Thor's, catching his concerned blue orbs. His hand lifted to stroke a thumb over her cheek tenderly. "You never told me this." he murmured.

She shrugged again. Thor wished she wouldn't do that; shrug as if it were nothing. "I didn't want to worry you." Her eyes flickered back over her shoulder at the doctor, questioningly. "I've had them for the last three weeks or so. Is that what it is?"

"Possibly." The doctor said calmly. "If that is the case it would explain why you've been struggling to conceive. It is important that we make sure everything has indeed gone. It might only be a tiny bit left and that might be why it's taken so long to be noticed, but if it's left there it will become toxic." He paused for a moment, letting the information sink in before he continued. "It would take just a quick ultrasound to rule it out."

Jane looked to Thor nervously.

XXX

"It won't hurt." the doctor reassured. "The gel might feel a bit cold though."

Jane tensed as a light chill touched the skin of her abdomen, teeth gritting together in a silent hiss. Her shirt was rolled up to her ribs, the ready and waiting ultrasound machine humming lightly beside the head of her bed. Thor sat in a chair at her side, hand holding hers tightly.

His jaw was stiff.

"Are you mad at me?" Jane asked quietly, her eyes gleaming as they rolled round to him.

The god didn't move, and Jane wondered if he'd even heard her. Finally, a heavy sigh left his lips. "I'm not angry with you Jane." he eventually growled, eyes staying averted. "I am angry with myself."

"It wasn't your fault, Thor. I'm fine." she gasped with a light smile, begging for him to accept it. He stayed blank. "Just a little tired and undernourished. And if there's something missed from the D&C it could be some sort of infection or-"

"Jane." Thor's eyes screwed shut, and Jane shut her mouth with them. His quiet tone wasn't one to be reckoned with.

There was nothing she could say, she realised, letting her eyes roll miserably to the ceiling above her. God, she was stupid, she cursed in her head. Depriving herself of food and sleep wasn't exactly something she was alien to but she never imagined it would go this far! Her mind scoured back to when Thor first left her, all that time back in New Mexico. She hardly ate or slept then for nearly four months and had managed to torturously survive, free of the hospital. And again when Thor had been in New York, refusing to tend to herself while her god was in danger.

But this time was different, she told herself. It had to have something to do with the miscarriage. It was the only thing her logic could pinpoint to. Especially as she'd tried - genuinely tried to eat and sleep properly.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled, heart sinking coldly.

Thor said nothing back, pulling her knuckles to his lips in a chaste kiss. Then he found a spot on the wall and lost himself to thought again: he was starting to wonder if bringing her to Earth had done more harm than good. But if beind home didn't help her heal, he didn't know what else to try. He was at his wits end.

"Right," the doctor sighed, moving the transducer to nudge over Jane's exposed stomach. The gel spread cleanly over her abdomen. "Let's see if there's anything to worry about."

Jane's eyes rolled back to Thor as the doctor roamed the probe over her body, squeezing his fingers. He squeezed back, but didn't turn his head.

Her heart bled.

"Well, there's something in there all right." the doctor finally murmured, eyes glued on the screen that was turned just far enough to be out of comfortable view of the couple. A light frown touched his brow as he probed on, but neither Jane nor Thor looked at him to see it.

The words were enough: Jane groaned, spare hand moving to her face. "Do I have to do the D&C again?"

Thor's heart clenched in his chest and he couldn't help himself squeezing Jane's fingers a little tighter. She returned it firmly. He remembered how much she'd hated the D&C the first time around; he wasn't looking forward to reliving that again, for either of their sakes. He promised himself he'd do better this time though. He'd be there for her and he'd do whatever he needed to to keep her well.

His mind swam with a list of food he intended to buy for her to keep her eating. And flowers, he thought. He'd get her flowers. Films and books to help her pass the time of her recovery, while he'd hold her hand all the while.

The doctor shook his head. "Quite the opposite."

That caught Thor's attention. The frown was already firmly in place as he snapped his gaze to the doctor, still gazing down at the screen. "I thought you said she would need this procedure." his voice was stiff and cold. He may not want to put Jane through the trauma of the experience again, but he was sure it was a damned sight better than the tissue within becoming toxic.

Slowly, the doctor moved the transducer from Jane's body and placed it down beside the monitor. Jane watched him, puzzled.

His eyes found her at last, eyebrows lifted. "You didn't do any tests while trying for a baby, Miss Foster?"

Jane's mouth dropped open for a moment before the words finally came out. "I didn't see the point." she admitted, her heart clenching with anxiety. She could feel Thor's hand tight around hers, his mind too starting to decode the doctor's words. "I thought there was no way I could be pregnant because of the cramps and the fact I wasn't being sick..." she trailed off numbly.

"Dizziness is a common symptom for early pregnancy," the doctor picked up. "Actual fainting isn't. However, these symptoms are often heightened when the mother is carrying multiples."

Thor's heart thudded hard in his chest. "Speak plainly." he demanded, holding Jane's hand so tight he was sure he must be crushing it.

The doctor eased back in his chair from over Jane's body and slowly rolled the monitor screen round, til it was easily in the couples view. "You're pregnant." he said bluntly. Jane and Thor's eyes clapped on the screen. "With twins."

Silence washed through the room, as Jane and Thor's widening eyes scoured over the monitor: amongst the mottled grey background of Jane's womb, were two small but very much distinct black ovals. They were tiny. So small they were almost undetectable, but to Thor and Jane they stood out like stars in the night sky. Thor knew he had limitted knowledge of Earth technology, but if what the doctor was saying was true, he could have a pretty fair guess as to what the screen was showing him.

A smile gasped over his face. They'd done it, he thought, numb with flooding happiness, they'd really done it. All the months of trying and frustration had paid off in double - literally! He made a mental note to emphasise this to Stark when he saw him, recounting his suggestion about Thor's 'problem'; now he had not one, but two babies to prove his capabilities.

He ran a hand over his mouth to hide it, hardly daring to believe his eyes.

Beside him, Jane was similarly gormless: her mouth just gaped at the monitor, drinking in the sight of the black dots as if she couldn't believe they were really there. She couldn't even think coherently.

"It takes a lot of energy to make twins." the doctor smirked in amusement at the couples stunned reaction. Neither could peel their eyes away from the monitor to look at him. "And if you've not been eating and sleeping, and your body was as weak as it was already... it's no wonder you passed out, Miss Foster. You're lucky it even shows on the scan. They're not normally visible until five or six weeks. You must be quite far along already."

Finally, Jane's head started to shake from side to side. "But.. I don't understand." she eventually forced out in a squeaking voice. "Last time I was throwing up like mad and everything."

"Pregnancy changes, Miss Foster. You probably have that to look forward to in the next few weeks actually. The cramps are nothing to be alarmed at either - though it is important you start eating properly, for the sake of you and the babies."

A flittering smile suddenly blossomed over Jane's lips uncontrollably, matching Thor's beside her at last. "Babies..." Plural. _Wow_, she gasped in her head.


	5. Rules

"Right." Jane tugged the Sharpie pen out of it's lid with a pop. "No joke this time. I am not taking any chances."

Thor watched bemused as Jane leaned over the large stretch of paper and scrawled 'RULES' at the top in thick black letters, running over each line multiple times for bold effect. He grinned at her manic effort.

They sat sprawled out on the floor of the apartment, couch pushed back against the wall to accomodate the paper. Thor had exchanged his armour for a casual grey shirt and jeans - but only after he'd whizzed Jane around the city a few times, Mjolnir soaring them through the air. She hadn't thanked him for that; he'd as good as ignited her morning sickness when they'd finally got back to the apartment!

The god hadn't stopped beaming since they'd left the medical establishment. He was elated - he'd even hugged the doctor! And Pepper. He made a mental note to apologise to the poor woman at some point - his bone crushing embrace had near scared her to death! Thor hadn't stopped to notice.

"Okay, first," the marker scratched a '1' below the title. "No coffee." Jane wrote her words down as she said them. Her eyes stared over them sadly. "I can live with that." she hoped if she said it, she'd be more likely to believe it.

Thor said nothing, watching on silently.

He understood what she was doing. The scientist in her had kicked in almost the second her feet had returned to the ground and she was taking no possible risks in letting Anabelle happen again. She'd called it something like the 'precautional principle', if Thor remembered correctly.

Thor sat back and let her compose her list of things to avoid. Personally, he thought it was a bit extreme. The doctor had told them - as had nearly everyone else! - that there was no identifiable cause of miscarriage. Of course though, that hadn't been enough for Jane. Thor half thought she needed to do it to reassure her if nothing else, to at least make her feel like they were somehow protected against the horrific possibility. It couldn't do any harm, he reasoned.

He himself, was surprisingly laid back about the whole matter. They were having twins: a part of him couldn't help but feel fate was compensating for their tragedy. He could feel it. Nothing was going to take this moment from them this time.

"I don't smoke anyway, so that's not an issue." Jane murmured, moving down her list. "No alcohol. No drugs. And most importantly, no stress."

Thor lifted his eyebrows at the fourth rule disbelievingly. Jane didn't seem to be able to function without a small amount of stress spurring her on! He made a mental note to make a bet with the boys about how soon she would crack. That would help amuse him during his time on Earth.

It suddenly dawned on him just how _bored_ Jane must have been in Asgard. At least, he'd had various royal duties to occupy his days, while Jane had only had Darcy to keep her company, and even that had been reluctant! He started to fully appreciate it at last, knowing that he would be facing the exact same thing over the next nine months or so - only without the Darcy bit. He started to consider if it might be worth getting a mortal occupation during his stay to help fill his time. He liked the idea of being able to treat and spoil Jane using his own earnings, rather than relentlessly borrowing off Stark.

"No fish. No junk food."

The god couldn't help but bark a laugh at that one, earning a sharp glance from Jane. He stared back calmly. Jane loved her junk food as much as she loved her coffee. _This list would indeed be interesting_, he thought to himself.

"Whatever you're grinning about, you can stop." Jane said darkly. "This is important. I don't want any more graves on that hilltop."

Thor's smile faltered slightly.

"You'll have to get in gear." Jane went on, turning attention to the paper again, curling her legs underneath her to lean deeper forward. "You've gotta pull your weight - literally! No heavy lifting. No cleaning products or fumes. No nuts..." her eyes suddenly lifted, frowning at Thor. "I can't think of anything else."

The god leaned forward with a smile, clasping her cheeks in his palms softly. He pressed a deep kiss on her lips before she could object. "Then it seems you have covered everything." he breathed against her lips.

"Mm," Jane murmured, eyes fluttering half open. "I'll look forward to putting you to work, mister."

Thor didn't mind, he thought blissfully as he pulled Jane forward to sit on his lap, winding his hands around her waist. He kissed her soft and slow, making up for all the lost months of tenderness. Now they could relax again. He could get back to focussing on loving Jane, rather than worrying about her. She didn't bite back, sinking into the kiss as deeply he did. She hummed against his lips in content.

Suddenly, she froze, eyes snapping wide. She pulled her mouth off his: "I've got to tell Erik and Darcy!"

Thor's hands hung firmly on her waist when she jerked to move. Her frowning gaze rolled back to him, questioningly. Her confusion danced with her urgency. Thor met her with calm eyes, refusing to let her flitter away. "Jane." he said softly. "No Bifrost. Did you forget?"

She slumped in his arms instantly, burying her face in his shoulder with a groan. "Oh God." Then she jerked up again. "You go." she said, eyes bright and eager. "Go on. Go tell them. Darcy's gonna love twins."

Her hands pushed insistently at his chest, but Thor stayed solid and immovable.

"Jane." He purred again. "I will not go. Just as before, the same restrictions that apply to you also apply to me. It is only fair."

"Ha!" Jane tossed her head back and laughed. "Get out! You can't live without your sweets! You'd go into withdrawal symptoms if you tried! And you're really willing to give up drinking and coffee?"

Thor leaned in and brushed his lips by her ear. "For you, anything."

The sharp bells of Jane's phone ringing cut through the apartment and Thor loosened his arms, though she made no move to answer it. She merely grinned, baring that flash of teeth that Thor found irresistable. "Natasha." she shrugged. "Pepper said she'd call. I'll bet the news has spread to all of the Avengers by now."

"I will send word to Heimdall to inform those back in Asgard in the morning. It seems we are stranded in a different realm to last."

Jane arched an eyebrow. "By you and your suspicions."

"I thought you were planning to be careful." he fired back with a smirk.

A smile flickered over Jane's lips and she chuckled. "Alright. Shall I add Bifrost travel to the blacklist?" she asked in a sweet voice, batting her eyelashes at him coyly.

"No need." his smirk deepened, hands fastening again at her hips. "Though perhaps you should include other forms of mortal transportation. I do not trust anything more than my own two hands to take my family anywhere. And whilst we are on that subject, there are other matters we need to discuss." He pecked his lips over hers fleetingly. "Important matters."

Jane's eyes brightened a shade, lighting up even more than before. "Such as?" her eyebrows lifted suggestively.

"Such as this apartment. It is no place to raise the future heirs of Asgard."

"Feel free to decorate. Paint falls under fumes, so I'm out."

"That is not want I meant." His fingers brushed over her cheeks where strands of her hair crept forward. "This is not a fit place to have our children, Jane. I do not want them born into an environment such as this."

"Well," Jane's tilted her head into his touch. "Technically, we'd be having them in the hospital, not here."

"The point still stands." He paused for a moment, thinking how he could say this to her in a way that was clear. And that wouldn't offend her. He was still too used to walking on egg-shells around Jane from the last two months to be fully confident in her new found disposition. "I want to leave the city." he finally said softly. "I wish to find a place calmer. Quieter. Bigger than this apartment. Surely you understand we cannot fit two more in this place."

Jane's ear inched towards her shoulder in a reluctant shrug. He had a point. The apartment only had one bedroom and even that was mostly filled by the double bed. There wouldn't be space to fit in one cot in there, let alone two!

"Where would we go?" she asked, eyes rolled upwards in thought. "If we can't go back to Asgard, then where would we go?"

"Anywhere." Tho pecked a kiss to her mouth, drawing her attention down again.

A smile started to stretch on Jane's lips at the thought: her and Thor and their babies in a home of their own. Days of endlessly being surrounded in her family and nothing else. She imagined it'd be nothing short of bliss. What sort of open space was Thor thinking of, she wondered. Fields? Deserts? He couldn't mean the last one, she corrected herself quickly. Her nose crinkled, remembering the dry wastelands of New Mexico.

"We've got plenty of time to think about that." she eventually murmured, settling herself more firmly against his body. "In the meantime, I'm _really _hungry."

She could feel Thor's teeth bare against her lips, the breath of his quiet growl tickling her skin.

Jane didn't let it deter her: "Seriously Thor, I'm starving."

It wasn't because she'd been starving herself, no matter what conclusion her god automatically leapt to. She'd genuinely been getting hungry over the last few days, and had genuinely started to eat more to accomodate it. She'd just assumed it was her getting her appetite back though - not that she had two developing babies in her uterus to fuel!

She meant it. A pang of hunger rumbled through her stomach as if to emphasise her point and Thor reluctantly detatched his lips from hers with a sigh.

He lifted her from his lap and popped her back down beside her list. She crossed her legs underneath her and rocked from side to side, a child-like smile on her face as he wondered to the kitchen. Oh yes, she could get used to this.

A few minutes later, he dropped back in front of her, a plate of microwave fries in his hand. Jane stared at him bluntly.

Thor lifted his eyebrows in question.

Her head shook slowly from side to side. "So much for the no junk food rule." she muttered quietly. It didn't stop her from taking a fistful though. She was too hungry to stop herself.

Thor helped himself to the food too. "Start in the morning." was his answer.

Jane's eyes flickered up at the god and the smile he sent her way. A smirk teaed her own lips as she pushed the plate away to clear the space on the bottom of the paper.

"Although," she started, her tone so leading it pulled Thor's attention firmly back to her just seconds after he'd made a grab for the plate. So much for _her_ snack. She wouldn't have to worry about breaking her rules after all at this rate! Her hand found the discarded Sharpie pen again. "Maybe we should start thinking about the things we _can_ do. Now that they've all got doctor's approval from this morning anyway..."

Jane's gaze stayed evasively and alluringly low as she spoke, leaning forward over her lenthy blacklist. She added a 'DO's' title under the restrictions.

Thor watched, grin widening at the suggestive three bold letters she carved delicately into the paper beneath it.


	6. Operation Relocation

"Seriously Thor? You want to move _now_?"

Jane stared at the God of Thunder with disbelieving eyes, watching him spread out a handful of files over the bed. She stood on one side, while Thor stood on the other, staring down at the pictures of houses on the front of each set of papers. She'd known it would happen one day, that Thor wanted to leave the city - but she hadn't betted it would be so soon!

"Yes." he said calmly, still shifting the folders until he was satisfied. There were at least a dozen.

"But..." her mouth searched for words, utterly stunned. "Why?!" she finally blurted. "I'm not even in my third month yet and you're already planning for when they come out?!"

Her hand rubbed instinctively over her belly as the other found its way to support behind her back. She already had a bump. Seven weeks and she already had a bump. Not a big one, but a bulge never the less. She was still struggling to believe it - she hadn't been started showing with Anabelle until at least her twelvth week, and even then it was far from obvious! Now everything was moving twice as fast with twice the cargo.

Thor still didn't look up. "That is not my only reason." he murmured, fingers lingering over one particular file. Jane made a mental note just to choose that one and be done with it. "I was also considering the space we shall need before the birth of the children, for when we recieve visitors."

Jane opened her mouth - then the idea sunk in. She hadn't thought about that. So far, she'd only considered Erik and Darcy coming to see her. She'd never even considered about anyone else.

"Surely you cannot expect for my parents to stay anywhere but our home while they are newcomers to this world?"

Her teeth ground into her lower lip. Yeah, Thor was right, she thought. Not only was it polite, but at least there she could limit the Asgardian on Earth business to a controlled environment. She remembered what Thor had been like when he'd first arrived in their world and how soul destroyingly embarrassing it had been parading him in public, even though he'd only been trying to be polite.

If his parents were anything like him...

"Yeah, okay." she finally sighed, stepping up to the bedside. "Good plan. What are you looking at?"

"Jarvis helped me narrow down my search to these establishments based on my requirements. There are a number of residences in the states of Montana, Utah, Kansas, and," his eyes lifted to her at last, a glittering twinkle in his crystal blue orbs. "New Mexico."

Jane's impreganated stomach did flips: New Mexico - where they first met. "You said..." her brow started to furrow with light suspicion. "Jarvis helped you with this?"

Thor nodded. "Jarvis."

"Really? 'Cos it sounds like Tony's idea of a joke."

Not that she had anything particularly against New Mexico, per say. It just sounded strangely ironic that some of the houses Thor had shortlisted for consideration just _happened_ to be in the state where they'd had their first date. _Well, even if Jarvis _had _been the one to help Thor_, Jane thought, _it was still Tony's machine_. It probably shared his sick sense of humour. Corrupt.

"I thought you wanted fields and green." She said, picking up a file with a dusty sort of background. New Mexico. Undoubtedly.

Thor grinned across the bed, and Jane caught it with raised eyebrows. "I want space and peace." he clarified. "In whatever form it may come in.

Jane moved on to another file. "Including the baking wastelands of New Mexico?"

Thor said nothing, only widening his grin and walking lazily around the end of the bed to join her on her side. Jane ignored him, patiently picking up and gazing at each file individually. _How many New Mexico's had he picked out?, _she thought with alarm as she scanned over the fifth out of six. Perhaps he was trying to tell her something...

His arms wound slowly around her waist until his hands cupped her bloated stomach with care. He rested his chin over her shoulder. "You must also bear in mind that we will need the space to open the Bifrost without the burden of disturbing others." he murmured, pressing a slow, lingering kiss to her jaw. "I'm sure it would give them quite a shock."

Jane grinned at the thought. Yeah, she thought, what a way to meet the neighbours!

She wound a hand up to her glorious, thoughtful, sensitive boyfriend and softly laced her fingers through his hair. "You want New Mexico, don't you?"

Thor lifted his head slightly so their temples were touching. He snatched a chaste kiss to her cheek. "Yes." he sighed. "One could argue that is the true root of our children. For if we had not met, they would never have existed."

Jane said nothing, merely smiling as she turned back to the files in her hand. _Okay_, she thought with a reluctant sigh, Thor's puppy dog eyes too adorable to resist, _New Mexico it is._ She admired the pictures on the front of what she held. They did look nice houses, she had to concede. And if they had lots of open space and privacy like that she might even be able to open up a new lab by the side of it. She was already warming to the idea. Then there was the location itself: she giggled like a teenager at how sweet and romantic wanting to bring up their children where they'd first met was.

Then she flipped open the file and looked at something beyond the front porch. Her eyes widened.

"Thor!" she exclaimed. "These are six bedroom houses! Do we really need a place that big? And how on Earth are we going to afford it?"

She guessed she should have known the answer already: "Tony." Of course. It was alway Tony or his credit card. "And we must consider all those who would require lodgings. This size establishment would house you and I, the children, my parents, Darcy and Erik-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Jane waved a dismissive hand over her shoulder. Her eyes rolled back down to her hands. "Let's find a house."

XXX

Jane slipped from the car, bucket hugged to her stomach. The doctor had been right about the morning sickness thing - it had come back with a vengence. Only it wasn't so much a morning thing. More a morning, afternoon and night thing thrown in all at once with cruel precision.

Slam.

"Tony, you're heartless!"

"What?!" the billionnaire asked with arms to the side as he and Pepper wondered round to the front of the car. "I was just making a point - if she throws up in my jet, she'd have hell to pay. I'd lop off Golden Boy's hair like he was Samson."

"She's pregnant."

Tony shrugged. "She kept it down, didn't she? The threat obviously worked."

"Guys," Steve and Bruce wondered up beside the bickering couple, their moving-van parked behind Stark's shiny black car. "Not the time. Stress free environment and all."

Stark's eyes flickered over to Jane; she was glaring, as was Thor with his arm protectively around her shoulders. Tony was unfazed, running his gaze up and down her impregnated, bowl hugging form. "What? Your mutant babies of a hammer weilding warrior god and a mad scientist can't handle a couple of competetive assertions?"

Jane's teeth gritted. "That's it!" she shrieked, shoving the bowl in Thor's arms in her place and marching across the dusty ground. "I'm gonna kill him!"

"Jane!" Thor leapt forward and caught her raised fist with ease, other hand snaking delicately around her swollen waist to hold her back. She sqiurmed against him, but was no match for the god's controlled strength. Didn't stop her trying though.

"Wow." Tony just stared. "Hormonal."

Bruce looked on from the side of the truck. "You're digging yourself a very shallow grave, my friend."

"Damn, right he is!"

Thor was amazed as the billionnaire just looked at Jane, as if he hadn't heard her manic shriek at all. It was as though he didn't know what was good for him, the god thought, Jane struggling madly in his arms.

The thought was confirmed as Tony stretched his arms out to the sides again, challengingly. "What you gonna do, tubs?" he mocked. "Bulldoze me over?"

Unanimous sighs from both Pepper and Steve breathed as Jane notched her kicking up to the next level. Thor started to wonder if he could hold on to her much longer without hurting her. He knew he couldn't let her loose though; she'd murder Tony! Any other day he'd simply scoop her up and fling her over his shoulder, holding her down more easily for him and striding on to business. But he wouldn't dare with his children in her belly.

"Remember the fifth rule Jane." Bruce cut in fast.

_No stress_, Thor remembered from the list. How on Earth did Bruce know the rules from the paper?, he vaguely wondered.

Whatever, it didn't matter; Jane stilled reluctantly in his arms, though her nails bit into his skin, showing just how much restraint it demanded from her. Thor made a mental note to thank Bruce, and to remind Tony to do the same. The scientist may have just saved his life.

When Thor was satisfied Jane could controll herself he loosened his arms to wind them comfortingly around her body. He held her head gently to his chest, pressing a kiss into her hair.

His eyes pierced into the genius. "I cannot allow these remarks to pass so lightly, Stark." he warned. Just because he saved Jane from scratching his eyes out, didn't mean he approved of what Tony had said to provoke it. Thor didn't like the way he'd mocked her. "We shall have words later."

"But in the meantime," Steve walked back to join Bruce by truck. "Let's get busy making a house a home."

Thor left the two men to it - soon joined by Tony at Pepper's insistance, the woman in question wondering around to direct - leaving them to unload the truck, while he and Jane turned to face their new house. His hand cupped her shoulder, leaning her against him. Her hand rose to his shirt as her eyes drank in the house. It was nothing short of huge by Jane's standards, but every inch of the house seemed to be carved with the same care and beautiful detail as statue. For it's dusty surroundings the house looked immune, light and untouched.

Thor could feel her smiling, and stopped trying to resist his boom of joyous laughter. His hand moved to the side of her head. "Rule eight, Jane." he reminded with another kiss to her hair. "No lifting."

He gave her no time to reply before he swept her up in his arms and her words were drowned out by her giggling laughter. Her arms hung around his neck as he strode them forward. He felt like the happiest man alive. A quick fumble from Jane and the keys had Thor carrying his family over the threshold of their new home. The home their children would be brought to. The home they would grow up in. The home Jane and Thor's new lives as parents would begin in.

"Wow!" Jane's mouth gaped, as Thor set her down to explore the premises for herself. He followed her happily, her face like a childs in a toy store.

His heart glowed with pride: Jane was happy. Everything was falling into place. Thor let Jane lead him excited by the hand, ogling over the kitchen, the sitting room, the hallways, the bedrooms, the size of the land that was theirs ... Thor was beaming with a grin to match Jane's by the time they finally settled in the master bedroom. Jane hovered in the doorway of their ensuite bathroom as Thor completed the building of their bed and moved the mattress in place.

In the rooms below, Jane could hear Tony, Bruce and Steve setting up the rest of the furniture for their home, but she only had eyes for Thor as he straightened up from his work. Her arms hugged around her stomach happily.

Thor turned. "Do you like it?" he asked sincerely, meaning more than just the bed. His eyes gleamed with his own brimming emotions.

Jane smiled, stepping forward into Thor's awaiting arms. She nuzzled her cheek in his shirt. "I love it." she beamed, feeling the taunt muscles of Thor's chest relax at her words. "Everything's perfect. I can't believe this is really happening."

"And yet it is." Thor's fingers stroked gently through her hair. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, Jane Foster, but I will ensure I will never loose this privilege."

Jane's arms tightened around his waist, and she peeled her head from his chest. Her eyes glittered up at him. "Good." she murmured with smirk. "'Cos I was planning on keeping you around for a bit longer, mister. I kinda like the idea of more children and I can't exactly do that by myself..." Her eyes flickered alluringly to the bed behind them. Thor's heart did sumersaults. "Wanna break it in?"

The god's grin widened eagerly, and he dipped his lips to hers.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**Hey, guys.**

**Just thought I'd publicise the new poll up. Naming time! Choose whatever names you like from the poll, and I promise I'll use the top voted for names for either/both boys and girls at the end. I put both sets of names in one to save doing it in two parts and to make it fairer. Plus, if you want the twins to be one boy and one girl (which I haven't firmly decided on yet) then you can vote the names according to what pairs you like. If you want me to add any names to the list, let me know and I will.**

**Thanks for reading! x**


	7. Erik And Darcy

Jane's hands twisted nervously as she and Thor stood in the vacant stretch of New Mexico desert. The car sat a few paces behind them, Steve behind the driving wheel; Thor hadn't let Jane drive.

His fingers closed gently around hers and peeled them to her sides. He eased her anxious eyes with his smile.

"It will be fine." he reassured, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

Jane sighed, fluttering her eyes blissfully shut. "I know." she breathed as his lips pulled away. "I don't know why I'm so nervous really. I mean, if Erik didn't kill you the first time round, he certainly won't now... right?"

Her eyes flickered up nervously and Thor merely chuckled, pulling her more firmly to his side. "_Twice_ the pressure?"

His grin settled in place as Jane smiled and her fingers travelled to her stomach. Her body had blossomed in the last few weeks. Now even her baggiest shirt rose up over her bump and she'd abandoned her once fitted clothes... and opted Thor's instead. The black shirt that hung over her frame now belonged to the god, her flexible leggings in place of her jeans. Thor didn't mind. He found it a stirring combination of hot and amusing all at the same time that she was wearing his clothes.

Then the clouds above darkened and knotted, and the thoughts were driven from his mind. He felt Jane tense beside him as a light gleamed from the Heavens.

It had taken a long time to bring this plan to life, but it was better late than never, Thor thought. Now that they had the house, the space, the time to relax... or not, in Jane's case. Thor's crystal blue orbs rolled up to the skies calmly, watching as the Bifrost glistened through from one world and into another.

Jane jumped as the beams of light stretched too fast to see and crashed into the ground not far away, throwing up dust to be caught by the wind.

Thor vaguely remembered the Captain in the car and turned to show him a calm, reassuring palm. The superhuman hadn't seen the Bifrost before. Even with all the incredible things they'd all seen, Thor was sure it must be quite an alarming suprise to see the rainbow bridge open if you weren't used to it as he and Jane were. He guessed Steve's mind was eased, no urgent slamming of car doors reaching the god's ears as he turned to the tunnel of light again.

He felt Jane bury her face in his shirt (the one on_ his _body, not hers), hiding her face from the dust. His arm tightened around her. The lights in the tunnel darted, shielded slightly by the swirling dirt, and the god smiled heartily.

It couldn't have been more than seconds before the light suddenly shot back to the skies, but to Jane it felt like years. Her eyes crept from the fabric of Thor's shirt as the lashings of dust subsided.

"Brother!"

She found herself alone as Thor strode forward, meeting the small cluster of people ahead in a matter of lengthy strides. His forearm clasped with Loki's, a beam on both of their faces. Her shoulder felt strangely light, the space above it uncomfortably empty as she stood back, missing Thor's weighty support. Jane stumbled forward numbly, seeking it back again. Her guests must be lurking somewhere behind her boyfriend's hulking form.

"It is good to see you again, Thor." Loki smiled at his brother as their arms parted, and Jane drew close, nestling against Thor's body. "And you, Jane." He added fondly, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek. His birght green eyes hovered happily on her. "Heimdall tells me I am to be an uncle again."

"He was not wrong." Thor chuckled heartily, slinging his arm proudly around Jane's shoulders.

She felt like purring as she melted into her boyfriend again. She settled for a dreamy smile instead, eyes fluttering in bliss. Even that was embarrassingly obvious!

Loki made no mention of it. "Mother and Father send their apologies." He went on, eyes travelling evenly between Thor's face and Jane's. "Regrettably, business in Asgard had delayed them but they promised they would come as soon as they are able." His smile washed back warmly, settling his gaze predominantly on Jane. "They send their love."

_That's nice_, Jane thought, still feeling somewhat... well, dazed. Thor did amazing things to her and he didn't even know it. She opened her mouth to say something back along the lines of appreciation but-

"Holy sh-"

"Darcy!"

Jane snapped out of her standing coma; her eyes peeked curiously around Loki, as round as Bambi's, and settled on the two people that had made up her family for the last two years. The smile instinctively pricked at her lips.

Erik still had his warning glare in Darcy's gaping direction as Jane slipped from under Thor's arm and made to throw herself at him in a bear hug. She stopped herself fast - her feet skidded along the ground, spurring up plumes of dust. A bashful smile caught her lips as Erik turned his bemused gaze to her and she shrugged; last time, he'd stuggling with the whole launching hug thing. And she was probably bigger and heavier than she had been last time. It wouldn't end well, she worked out in her mind.

Erik's eyes rolled south. "How long have you left it this time to tell me?!" his eyes popped, mouth falling open.

Jane laughed and pulled him in for a gentler embrace than she'd originally planned. "I'm just twelve weeks!" she chuckled over his shoulder, feeling his hands hover over her back uncertainly. Maybe the extra bump between them threw him off. "It's earlier than last time, believe it or not."

She pulled back to drink in his astonished expression again. His eyes scoured over her, mouth hanging open long before he finally found the words. "You weren't like this last time." he finally gasped. Jane smirked, noting how he tactfully phrased it, leaving out confidence crushing words like 'big' or 'round'. His brow suddenly furrowed. "Were you?"

She went to reassure him, but Darcy couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer: "You sure you're not carrying Hulk's baby instead of Thor's?"

Jane flickered her gaze to her friend's blunt, perfectly serious expression with a chuckle. God, she'd missed Darcy's sense of humour. Her crude comments... everyone was too soft around her now. She needed a bit of Darcy.

Thor stepped up and his arm found it's traditional place around Jane's shoulders, his other clapping Erik's shoulder fondly. Erik's body just swayed numbly. The god's beam was dazzling on his face as he nodded politely to Darcy and glanced down at Jane; she wore the same happy gleam in her eyes as he was sure were in his.

"You weren't that fat last time." Darcy suddenly insisted, gaze running up and down Jane's bloated body, lingering over the bump in the middle.

Jane's eyes rolled away from Thor's. "I'm not fat, I'm _pregnant_." She spelled out word for word, knowing her friend wouldn't listen to anything less. Darcy's shrugging shoulders told her she didn't anyway. "You're just as bad as Tony."

Darcy's eyebrow arched sassily, with an infuriating smile. "If being as bad as him will make me someday as rich as him then I'll take that as a compliment."

_Okay_, Jane thought, starting to regret her earlier assumption. _Maybe there was such a thing as _too_ much Darcy. _

Still, it _kind of_ cheered her up. It meant Darcy didn't know - that none of them knew! - mystified by her unusually large stomach. She made a mental note to thank Heimdall when she eventually saw him. She was sure the gatekeeper knew their secret but she was glad he hadn't spilled the beans to anyone else, limitting the information to vaguely 'pregnant' rather than divesting the true nature - or more, _number_ - of what lay in her womb. Telling about the twins was something she'd been looking forward to herself.

Her hand wound up to her pregnant stomach instictively. It was becoming a reflex. One almost as strong as glancing up at the god beside her. She found his crystal blue orbs instantly: they were pinched in the corners with glee.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Loki wondering back into the frame behind Erik, so as not to miss out on the subtle looks and smirks Jane and Thor were exchanging between them. Good, she thought. It was like everything was falling into place, coordinating to their unspoken plan.

Thor's arm tightened around her waist excitedly, and Jane moved her hand to rest on his chest. His childish grin told her he couldn't keep it in much longer.

_Alright_, she thought, smile widening. _Time to drop the bomb._

Her eyes drifted back to the group, twinkling.

"We have something to tell you." Thor's deep voice rumbled. Jane felt his chest roll as he said it.

Then she thought she'd tease her boyfriend for all he was worth. "But," she said, eyes flickering to Thor, enjoying the frustrated, impatient look on his face. He _so_ wanted to tell them. "We'll tell you back at the house."

She felt his body physically slump in exasperation. The grin on her face spread wide. He was so proud of this whole situation it must be killing him to have kept the secret to themselves for... what? - ten minutes? She heard the quiet groan leave his lips. Yup - definitely killing him.

Erik and Darcy's eyes popped. "House?!" they both blurted.

Stifling the laugh was useless, so Jane let it roll from her freely, hand moving over Thor's heart proudly. He covered it with his, fingers tight. He _really_ wanted to tell them.

"We got a house." she nodded. "A big one. Nothing but the best for the Prince of Asgard, right Thor?"

Her hand patted lightly over his shirt and he chuckled. Albeit, a little stiffly. "And for other future rulers." he murmured in her ear, before going on louder to their companions. "We have resided there for three weeks now." He couldn't resist glancing his eyes down to Jane again, the warm, loving glow his orbs held something he wanted to share with no one but her. "It is becoming quite the home."

Her eyes glittered back up at his mischeviously. "It helps when you have an army of Avengers to speed up the delivery services." she smirked before turning back to the party. "You've all got rooms and ensuite's, and Pepper can order in anything you want on Stark's credit card."

That cheered up Darcy.

"Alright!" Her hands shot up in the air as she stepped forward towards the car. "Champagne and caviar for my bedtime snack please!"

XXX

The journey home was... interesting.

Taking back six people wasn't an ordeal Jane had planned for the car, but it was do-able nevertheless. She sat on Thor's lap in the front, Loki, Darcy and Erik lined up in the back seats. The New Mexico roads were rough and jumpy, but Thor still miraculously managed to keep perfect rhythm of his stroking thumb over her stomach.

"Loki," Thor turned back to his brother, speaking over his shoulder. "Will you be returning to Asgard?"

The younger god smirked, glancing at the human beside him with gleaming eyes. "I think I'll stay." he finally said. "I have yet to take the time to fully experience Midgard at its finest."

"New Mexico's not its finest." Darcy quipped, eyes blinking at him coyly.

"It really isn't." Jane breathed for good measure through her swooning head. Steve's jarred driving must have tapped into her lingering dizziness somehow, she thought. The bastard.

Thor chuckled along with his brother, more at her stunned form than anything she'd actually said. She could feel his chest rumble behind her, but a sharp bump in the road caused her jabbing elbow to miss it's mark.

She caught Loki lean down to Darcy's ear in the rear view mirror as she straightened up, and her jaw dropped. "I believe it is the host and the company that gives a place it's value of experience, is it not?" she heard Loki purr, before he sat up again, a smug look on his face. "And I would greatly like to see the house you and my brother share." he aimed with a too happy smile at Jane.

She was glad she'd put the two in seperate rooms now. She wondered if it would stay that way...

"Whoa!" Darcy suddenly exclaimed, drawing Jane's attention back over her shoulder in a heartbeat.

Her heart sank with dread as she caught Darcy's orbs on her - or more specifically, her waistline. Oh God - now Jane felt it. The rough car ride must have ridden her shirt up! Darcy's glistening eyes lifted to hers and Jane tensed, waiting for a confidence crushing figure remark to leave Darcy's lips. It was worse than she could have imagined: "You have _stretch marks_!"

Her heart stopped in just the same way as she'd anticipated. Jane froze for a minute, feeling the blood drain from her face.

Then she was squirming in Thor's arms, clawing at the shirt at her side and craning her neck down to see. Her jaw dropped when she saw the thin bue and purple lines creeping just above the waistband of her leggings. A small squeak of horror left her. "Oh God, no!" she finally gasped. "These things scar!"

Thor's fingers peeled through hers and drew her hand away, her shirt falling to hide the marks once more. He pressed her knuckles to his lips. "They are of the flesh, Jane." he murmured against her skin. "They will do you no harm."

"But they're _ugly!" _Darcy protested from the back seat in Jane's stead, before she could even open her mouth.

Thor's eyes flickered back fleetingly, before finding Jane's glistening brown orbs over her shoulder again. He felt like he was looking into her soul. "They are a part of you and are therefore beautiful." He kissed her hand again. "If they are a mark of the children you have bore for me and for Asgard you should wear them with pride."

Jane's eyes rolled and she snatched her hand away. "Oh please! What a load of bullsh-"

A particularly vicious bump along the road cut her off, throwing her forward from the force. Thor's hand around her waist kept her from knocking against anything.

Steve's eyes at the steering wheel gleamed under the god's glare.

"Sorry!"

Thor was much happier once he had some of Pepper's steak in him back at the house, Jane making note of the tactic for future reference. So was she actually; she had enough meat to rival Thor's hefty helpings! She ignored the stares and got on with it. She was pregnant. She had an excuse.

"I don't think the book said you have to devour entire cows to develop a healthy baby, Jane."

She felt Thor's fingers close around hers tightly as she shot Darcy her most venomous stare. The book... she still hated that book. Her irritation dropped to her gut though, when she saw the cursed thing sat right there on the table!

Her jaw dropped.

Darcy smirked. "Call it a housewarming gift." Her fingers drummed along the books cover once, before she eased it forward along the table.

Jane watched it with wary eyes. Then she lost it: her cuttlery fell to the plate with a loud clatter as she snatched the book from the table cloth and leapt from her chair. Frowns and confused looked followed her. All except one.

Thor couldn't fight the eager smile on his face as he abandoned his food and followed her out the dining room door to the sitting room; truth be told, he'd been looking forward to this for months! He offered a helpful box of matches he snatched from the mantle piece as she knelt in from of the fireplace, throwing the book behind the grate with as much force as she could muster.

A quiet shuffling from behind told Thor their three guests had tentatively joined them at last, just as Jane turned on the gas. She sat back on her heels and took the matches from Thor.

"Jane..." Erik finally broke the silence to ask. "What are you doing?"

"Fulfilling a promise." She grunted as she lit a match. "It's that goddamned Daddy guide thing Thor had back in Asgard. When we first got here, we made a promise that we'd burn it if we ever saw it again. So we are. It's in the rules."

Thor's grin lit up with the flames as Jane poked the match through the grate and the book and the gas caught light. All eyes were drawn as the fire took hold, the corners of the pages curling and smouldering in their blazing destruction.

Erik snapped out of his trance first, reccuring where Jane had left off in her not so flattering eulogy.

His brow furrowed. "What rules?"

Jane sighed heavily. She turned her back reluctantly on her glorious fire and aimed a pointing finger at the back wall of the sitting room. She was surprised nobody had even noticed the list by now. It wasn't exactly hidden. Quite the opposite! - it was proudly on display on the back wall of the sitting room. It was even framed.

Eyes rolled over the paper pinned to the wall. Right at the bottom, just below the sex rule - that Thor hadn't let her tear off before he'd pinned it up, much to her dire embarrassment - was scrawled in thick black marker: THE BOOK MUST BURN!

An amused grin settled on Loki's face and Jane turned back to the fire, satisfied. It didn't take long. Jane was pretty sure stuff didn't normally burn that fast (even with the help of the gas) but judging by the beams on Thor and Loki's faces, she wouldn't put it past the pair to have some enchantment or something working to help it to it's fiery grave. She didn't care. Destroyed was destroyed however short a time it took.

"Is that what you were going to tell us, Jane?" Darcy asked, looking totally weirded out by the list. Her eyes lingered over the DO's section. "That you've adopted some weird new kinky lifestyle since you're with child?"

Jane turned and sat back on her heels, a smirk working its way onto her lips. She glanced up at Thor. He wore the same mischevious look as she did.

Darcy's hair whipped around her as she turned sharply, hands demandingly on her hips. Jane's eyes twinkled as the two women locked eyes, running hand over her bloated middle. Her spare hand reached up to squeeze Thor's. You do the honours, the gesture said.

She could practically feel his happy grin through his tight fingers. "With _children_." he clarrified, in that deep, rumbling voice Jane loved so much.

Then the jaws started to drop.

"Twins?" Erik gasped, looking stunned.

Loki recovered the best: a smile spread wide on his face as he stepped forward, crossing the room and clapping a hand on Thor's shoulder. "Congratulations, brother!"

"How do you know?!" Darcy half shrieked. "I mean, I know you're as big as a house but ... like..."

Jane laughed as Darcy's palm thudded into her forehead. "I had a scan and there were two of them in there." Her eyes trailed up her arm and Thor's beside her until she met his glistening crystal blue orbs. She let herself get lost in their beautiful depths. "We found out at the same time they told us I was pregnant."

Darcy's eyes rolled and she huffed an exasperated sigh. "You're rubbish at telling you're pregnant, you know that?"

A uninterested shrug was her answer.

"So that's why you bought a house." Erik worked out, already rolling his eyes around the room as if he were seeing it afresh now he knew its true purpose.

_Yup_, Jane answered in her head, still smiling happily up at the glorious father of her two unborn children.

It was like Thor's orbs held her captive by her eyes as well as by her hand. She simply could not tear herself away from him. And why would she want to? She didn't think anything could spoil this moment: in her house, with her boyfriend, and with her family, even the two unborn members inside her womb. What could be more perfect? Nothing could possibly ruin it.

Well, except maybe-

"Damn." Darcy breathed, running a hand through her hair. "You're gonna be _massive_!"

* * *

**NOTE**

**Keep voting for names! :D**


	8. Ultrasound

"Oh God, I'm a house!" Jane whined, thudding her head back against the hospital bed's headboard.

Thor smiled and laced his fingers through hers over her exposed, blooming stomach, Jane's black shirt rolled up high to her rib cage. He couldn't stop staring at it, dreaming of the two tiny babies within that were all theirs. It was like a dream. Only now the dream was coming true.

"Although," he murmured, leaning forward and pecking a kiss on her cheek. "It is worth it to see you wear the clothes Darcy bought you."

Jane's stomach was swelling at a dramatic rate, much more than either of them had predicted. It was still so hard to believe. She'd only gotten to sixteen weeks when she was pregnant with Anabelle and already she'd long surpassed that size with the twins! Just going into her fourth month, Thor thought she looked ready to drop. His mind span when he thought they were barely half way through!

How much more could she grow?

She'd outstretched his shirts. The material simply couldn't comfortably accomodate the girth of her stomach anymore and she'd been forced to surrender them. At first, Thor had been reluctant to let the phase pass as well, the thrill of Jane wearing his shirt with pride simply too satisfying an oppertunity to miss.

Then Darcy had offered them a favourable solution. She'd bought maternity shirts that were similar to the pull on clothes Jane usually liked to wear, the middles stretched to suit her bloating stomach. They were simple in colour, nothing bolder than black, white or grey. But it wasn't their style or colours that made them so wonderful: it was the _words_ written on them that did.

Thor's smile widened as he thought of the one she wore now. When lowered, written on the material over the peak of her belly was the word 'bump' with brackets around it, the words a crisp white against the black background.

Thor had to say it was one of his favourites. Truly, he'd loved the gifts even more than Jane had. He found the slogans amusing.

Jane had turned her nose up at them at first but after she'd found the shirts as comfortable as they were...

She groaned again, running her free hand from the top of her bump to the bottom. "Darcy was right. I'm gonna be massive." A sad grimace tugged at her features but Thor knew she didn't mean it. It was the look she always wore when the subject of her size came up. "God, I feel so _fat_!"

Thor said nothing. He'd learned that was best. It used to be a reflex for him to deny it... but the last time he'd done that Jane had sent him to sleep outside. Not just outside the bedroom - _outside_ outside. He'd spent the night sleeping on the hard New Mexico desert ground with Darcy cackling at his demies all night long through her window. Needless to say, the ordeal had drilled the lesson in well: silence was wise.

He'd thought with a whole house at his desposal she'd at least let him seek refuge on the couch. Even when he'd been 'bad' on Asgard he let him stay in the same room! Albeit on the floor, but...

The lengths a scorned woman would go to never failed to amaze him. When he wasn't at their mercy, at least.

The midwife walked into the room and pulled the god from his thoughts. He liked her. He and Jane had had numerous appointments with her so far ... but Thor was _still_ unable to remember her name, no matter how many times Jane reminded him of it.

He merely smiled at her as she took a seat on the other side of the bed and took up the probe of the machine.

"You look well." she smiled at Jane friendlily.

Jane was not as courteous. Her grimace deepened. "I don't feel it." She peeled her hands to her sides as the midwife spread the gel over Jane's stomach.

Thor squeezed her fingers firmer. "You're just nervous." he reassured.

Jane had been putting off this for weeks. Thor had never heard of 'scans' in Asgard while one was pregnant but Jane assured him it was perfectly normal here on Earth. And when she told him what it was for, he hardly complained: he was eager to see his children inside her womb now that they had grown from the tiny rice shaped dots from their first hospital visit!

He did not share the same anxieties that Jane did. She was supposed to have her first scan when she was twelve weeks but she had refused, pushing it back by over a month. Not until after sixteen weeks, she'd insisted. Thor guessed she just wanted to get past the milestone they'd reached with Anabelle, reluctant to get her hopes too high in case the same thing happened again and she was crushed. Now, seventeen weeks pregnant, she was starting to feel safe at last.

Thor had been confident from the start, right from the moment they found out they were having twins. It was like the world was making up for their previous tragedy. Nothing would go wrong this time.

"Excited?" The midwife's eyes flickered over Jane's stomach as she moved the probe to the skin to Thor, orbs sparkling kindly.

He smiled back eagerly. "Very."

"It all seems real when people see their first scan." she went on, probe roaming over Jane's bump. "You can take a picture home with you if you want?"

Thor's eyes shot, round and bright like a child asking their parents for sweets, to Jane's. She looked anxious. Thor didn't miss her gulp. "Let's just check everything's okay first, alright Thor."

Thor tried to let his empathy wash over his disappointment. It seemed she was resolved to keep a level head until she had absolute proof her children would not be snatched away from her a second time. Her eyes rolled to the monitor screen nervously as the image started to unfold.

"I'm surprised we got an appointment so quick." Jane said in a voice that was obviously trying to be casual, but failed miserably. The stiffness was impossible to miss.

The midwife smiled. "High risk patients always get priority."

Thor's smile dropped, and he swore Jane's face paled another shade. His fingers gripped hers hard to distract him from her own punishing hold.

"High risk?" Jane squeaked.

Thor frowned, eyes bearing into the midwife darkly. "Is something wrong?" he didn't mean for it to sound as much as a growl as it came out but... he didn't understand - at all the other appointments they'd been told that everything was completely normal. Why was Jane suddenly 'high risk'. Thor tried to ignore the sickening swirl in his stomach as his mind probed to the meaning behind the words.

"All multiples are classed as high risk. It's nothing to be alarmed about." the midwife smiled, reading the horrified expressions on the pairs faces. "There's just more chance of complications with multiple pregnancies than with normal ones."

Thor's jaw gritted hard. "What sort of complications?"

The midwife started to look a tad nervous. It wasn't hard to guess why with the gods hard orbs drilling into her. "The most common things are the twins being born prematurely, before thirty seven weeks, or having a low birth weight."

"But," Jane's voice was still not completely free of her squeak. "But that's not majorly serious... is it? They'll be okay?"

"Well, the average twin pregnancy lasts thirty five weeks and babies born around then tend to do absolutely fine. But because they might be on the small side, most twins are kept in the hospital for a while, just to be sure everything is alright and put on a little bit of weight."

Jane's head thudded back against the headboard, another high pitched breath leaving her. Her eyes were wide before she covered them with her hands, as if blocking out a bad dream. "Oh god." she whined. "That's going to be me."

Thor didn't know what to feel, but with the absence of Jane's fingers, his hand suddenly clenched into a fist at her side.

"Has the doctor given you a due date yet?"

"The end of November." Thor answered for Jane without hesitation. He forced his fingers to uncurl and cup Jane's shoulder comfortingly instead.

The midwife still looked happy and optimistic, the only thing stopping Jane and Thor from falling into absolute turmoil from the 'high risk' thing. "As long as the babies are born within November there should be no reason why they won't be perfectly healthy. The high risk is just a precaution. It's nothing to worry about."

Thor could tell Jane still wasn't completely eased as her hands crept down her face and he reclaimed her fingers with his. Nor was he. Now he was anxious alongside her.

"There's also the possibility that we might need to perform a Cesarean," the midwife went on, her smile finally settling into a more serious - but still calm - expression. "In the chance event that the babys' heart rates goes up or you just don't progress as well as you would normally. There's also the chance the babies simply won't be in the right position for vaginal delivery to be an option."

Thor's frown deepened even further. "What is a ce ...caes-"

"Cesarean." Jane clarified for him, bringing her hand to her forehead. She looked distressd again. "It's where they cut open my stomach to pull the babies out."

The god's heart dropped to his gut. He most definitely did not want that! Even when he'd seen operations performed on warriors after battles it made his stomach squirm, seeing the organs beneath the flesh. The though of that happening to his Jane...

"Here we are." The midwife's tone suddenly brightened, drawing the worried couples attention back to the screen.

Thor suddenly felt weightless as his eyes scoured over the monitor, his heart feeling like it was drifting clean out of his body. His throat ran dry.

He'd seen the first ultrasound back at their first hospital visit, but it still didn't prepare him for what he saw now. The screen was the same, the grey mottled background colour was the same. The shape of Jane's womb was the same... but the image itself was beautifully different.

There wasn't two tiny grains of black rice anymore. And Thor was no expert but even he could understand the picture that ground into his brain: the cicular shape of their heads, the solid form of their bodies, the two heads level near the bottom of the screen, the tiny ridges of the noses telling him they were facing each other. He would never forget it; two distinct black and white baby shaped moulds.

"Jane." His fingers clutched at hers even harder than before, their eyes both rivetted to the screen. A dreamy smile flickered at his lips and he felt gibberish on the tip of his tongue. He didn't care. "They've grown so much."

Jane felt herself start to tremble. "Yeah."

There wasn't the gaping space around them anymore. Now they had bloomed to fill the screen, the walls of Jane's womb encasing them protectively.

And they _looked_ like children. It was one thing knowing they were in there. It was another to actually see it.

Then their worries were out the window in a heartbeat - literally. Jane hadn't noticed when the midwife had pressed the little pad onto her stomach but it hardly mattered when she heard the sound it detected, echoing through the monitor.

Her jaw fell open. "Oh my god." she breathed, slumping back numbly against the headboard. Her hand flew to her forehead again, but this time it wasn't out of dread or anxiety - she simply felt too dizzy with wonder. Her eyes flickered to Thor and saw him gaping at the screen too, eyes glistening with a vulnerable fragility that made her heart bleed. Her fingers's squeezed at his. "Is that a _heartbeat_?"

If the sound was to be doubted, the screen couldn't be. It was unmistakable. The line jumped up and down in a steady rhythm on the chart, as Jane and Thor's ears were filled with the steady thump of a new, tiny heartbeat.

Jane couldn't help it; she fell apart. Her hand moved to cover her mouth as a sound somewhere between a gasp and a sob left her, her heart cracking with emotion. She was hearing their baby. Alive, heart beating within her. And she could hear it.

It wasn't just her it affacted. Jane thought her hand would break with the crushing grip Thor held it in... but then she glanced up, just in time to see him swallow hard, a traitorous tear slipping from the guards of his eyelids and she just didn't care. It must be incredible for him, she thought. He'd never even known this sort of technology existed, let alone what it would bring him, what it would show him.

And they both wanted these children so_ badly_...

She didn't dare speak, and nor did he, neither one of them wanting to break through the healthy thumps resounding in their ears.

"That's baby A's heartbeat." The midwife said softly, gently drawing Thor and Jane out of their own thoughts. Their gleaming eyes lifted to the monitor screen and focussed on it at last. The midwife's finger pointed to the baby on the left. "That one." Her eyes blinked kindly at the couple. "They're in a good position. If they stay this way then there should be no reason why you can't deliver naturally."

Jane gulped, trying to blink the tears out of her own eyes. "And... and the other one?" She couldn't fully relax until she'd heard them both, know they were both safe.

The midwife trailed the probe across to the otherside of Jane's stomach and the pair held their breath as a new rhythm blended with the first. For a moment, they could hear them both, two seperate rhythms, two seperate heartbeats pumping away inside Jane's womb. Then the probe moved on and the first one faded.

"Baby B." the midwife smiled. "Both happy and healthy. They're doing well. Good size, good heartbeat."

The sigh of relief Jane breathed could have probably be heard all the way back in Asgard. A smile flittered over her lips. "Thank God." she breathed, moving her fingers to her stomach, not caring about the slimy gel that coated her skin.

The midwife didn't seem to mind either. She pulled the probe away to lightly touch her fingertips over the left side of Jane's stomach. "Baby A is here." she said, before move to touch in the same place on the other side. "And Baby B is here. And their heads are right down here." Her fingers flittered lightly to the bottom on Jane's bump.

Thor watched carefully, memorising every detail. He imagined, with the help of the picture, what their children must look like in Jane's belly.

"I can tell you the sexes if you'd like?"

That shot Thor's attention sharply to the midwife. She was smiling at him. A brief thought crossed his mind that he must look pitiful, fawning and crying over two tiny infants that were not yet even born. But he didn't care. He really didn't. And the midwife kindly didn't point it out. _Perhaps other men reacted like this too_, he thought, that she was simply used to it.

Jane's eyes roamed to Thor; they were round and unsure. "Thor?" she squeaked. "I know you wanted it to be a suprise before but..."

His eyes were shimmering when they moved to meet hers. His mind was still processing. "They can do that?" he asked, his voice no where near as controlled as he would like it. His crystal blue orbs were drowning in emotion, flickering between Jane and the midwife. "They... you can do that? Truly?"

Both women nodded. Jane's eyes were glistening just as much as his were and her fingers squeezed reasuringly around his.

The decision rested with him, it said. He knew Jane wasn't big on surprises, no matter how happy one it would be. He knew where her heart lay in this. His mind wrestled with the idea. It was something he'd never even thought of finding out until the birth day. That was simply all that was possible back on Asgard, beyond superstition and old wives tales. Did he want it to be a suprise or not?

_It's still a surprise,_ a voice in his head quippped. _You're just going to be surprised five months early. _Thor swallowed as he considered it.

Everything would be easier, he thought, if they knew. They could play furniture and clothes and names in advance. Thor couldn't help but think it would make them feel more connected with the children even if they were still seperated by Jane's skin and muscle. If they could know, call them by their names before they were even in their arms...

He made up his mind.

His eyes lifted to the midwife. "I want to know."

The smile that bloomed on Jane's face wiped away any lingering doubts in his mind. Yes, he wanted to know. He wanted to be able to dream of the future without the blurs, without the unsure facts. He wanted to _know_.

Excitement swelled in them both as the midwife ran the probe over Jane's stomach, peering at the monitor. Thor and Jane watched her eagerly, their hearts thumping in their chests hard. Jane ground her teeth into her lip anxiously; she didn't want anything in particular, but she knew that Thor wanted a son. That Asgard _needed _a son. She had two chances. She had every confidence that Thor would love girls no differently to if she bore sons, but still... she wanted to make his dreams come true. To make him as happy as he made her.

Her heart was in her mouth.

"Okay," the midwife said, eyes still on the screen. The probe stilled and the midwife's twinkling eye flickered to the couple. "I've got 'em. You ready?"

Jane and Thor were crushing each other's hands in anticipation. The god's eyes were wide as dinner plates, Jane's teeth gnawing into her lip so hard she thought it might break skin. "Do it." she nodded, gulping.

"Baby A," Jane's hand instantly moved to the left side of her stomach, nudging the probe out of the way. It didn't matter. The midwife had her information anyway. "Is a boy."

Jane's eyes fluttered shut. _Thank God_, she thought, the smile on her face so wide it hurt. Her fingers pressed into her skin as if she wanted to touch her little baby boy. It was really there - _he_ was really there. Her mind struggled to process it; she was going to have a son. Her eyes linked up to Thor and she saw the same astonished, overwhemingly happy glisten in his gaze that she was sure was in hers.

A smile flickered over the god's lips, the information still sinking in. He was going to have a boy, an heir, his own son. His heart warmed at the thought.

Then he remembered the second child. Out of Jane's sight he crossed his fingers for a girl. He had his little boy. Now he hoped for a little girl for Jane. He couldn't help but think she would like that. And if they could have both a boy and a girl... Thor couldn't imagine anything more perfect.

"And Baby B," The midwife went on. Thor's hand palmed the right side of Jane's bump eagerly, both parent's-to-be cradling their children through Jane's womb. "Is a girl."

"Ha!" Thor dropped Jane's hand to shoot a victorious fist in the air, letting out a glorious roar of triumph.

Jane grinned up at him, chuckling a laugh. Thor wasn't sure if she was smiling in happiness of just laughing at his reaction, or a combination of the two - but truly it didn't matter. He was just glad she was happy. And so was he! He now officially had everything he could possible ask for: his woman, a little boy, a little girl, a home. His life was complete. His heart was whole at last.

Jane's hand fisted in the neck of his shirt and hauled him forward, both of them still grinning as she leaned forward from the bed and the god crashed hard into her arms. She hugged him tight. Her fingers clenched in his hair and Thor's arms crushed around her shoulders, burying his face in her neck.

It was all so real now. He could feel the top of Jane's bump brushing his stomach and felt his heart ache, filled with such joyous emotions Thor was sure it would burst.

They were going to be parents, he thought with a gasping laugh. To a little boy and a little girl.

Their little boy and little girl.

**NOTE**

**Keep voting for names! One boy name and one girl name is needed. In the event of a tie I get to decide, and you don't want that do you? So vote! Vote, vote, vote!**

**Thanks x**


	9. Asgardians In New Mexico

"I have to say Darce," Jane said, hand on her bump as she wondered into the sitting room. "This has got to be the best one yet."

Thor and Loki twisted round on the couch, craning their necks over their shouders to see what smarmy remark graced Jane's shirt today. The God of Thunder grinned, and Darcy gave a thumbs up from her perch on the kitchen counter. "What can I say?" she winked proudly. "I'm boosting morale."

Jane's fingers ran over the lettering, smirking as she joined her friend in the kitchen: 'REAL women have twins'.

"I like it." Thor grinned, rising from the couch and abandoning the control of his new games station. Tony had introduced him to the X-Box. The two gods had found their new favourite pass time.

Darcy tipped her head to the side. "Liar." she barked. "Your lot are too oldy worldy to believe in feminine empowerment."

"That is not true Darcy." Loki smirked from the couch, a wicked sparkle in his eye. "You know this. When you stayed in Asgard you were fawned with gifts from male admirers, were you not?"

Now it was Jane's turn to be sceptical. "You never told me that."

Darcy's narrowed slightly at being cornered. "_That _doesn't count." she insisted to Loki. "They only did that to get into my pants and breed with me like rabbits."

Loki's smirk deepened. "Now who's lying, Darcy?"

"What time are your parents coming, Thor?" Jane asked, cutting the subject off before Loki bit off more than he could chew. The dangerous look in Darcy's eye told her that if she didn't, Loki might soon find himself significantly less manly in his anatomy. "I just want to try and get everything organised and ... stuff."

Thor chuckled and strode lazily through the kitchen to cup Jane's shoulders in his collossal hands. "There is nothing for you to organise, Jane." he said, pecking a loving kiss to her lips. "Their room is prepared, the house is clean. And you _are not _to cook in your state, Jane. The doctor warned you should not stand for long periods of time, did he not?" His arms slowly wound around her, his hand holding her head lightly to his chest. "You are already giving this family two new members." He kissed into her hair as he cradled her. "It should be we who are waiting on you."

Jane ignored the last bit; she stiffened in his arms and pulled back to stare hard into his eyes. "You're not planning on cooking, are you?"

It was a serious question - no way in hell did she trust Thor or Loki with the stove. Even Darcy couldn't cook for her life. Jane remembered when she'd once asked Darcy to fry an egg (long ago, before they'd even met Thor) and she'd come back to a towering chip pan fire rather than a runny yolk!

Jane herself was no Jamie Oliver but at least her produce was edible. And she had yet to recieve complaints - though anyone who dared complain in her state now was asking for a death wish!

Her hand ran over her stomach again. Sure, the idea of standing over the stove for god knows how long whilst nineteen weeks pregnant wasn't ideal but... what choice did she have?

"We had planned on ordering the food from the delightful store on the street corner." Loki answered for her from the couch. "The one of the people of China."

Jane's eyes rolled back to Thor. "Thor, you can't give your parents Chinese takeaway."

"Why not?!" He protested. "It is delicious!"

"You just can't!" Jane insisted, brushing Thor's hands off her sides. "I want to give them _proper_ food for their first visit. You know, _home made _stuff."

The god frowned. "It is home made. It is made on the premises, is it not? And it is a complete meal. The white grains and rolls of spring make a most gratifying feast."

"Spring rolls, dude." Darcy corrected him. "And don't lie - there's no way you just eat rice and spring rolls. I remember our last take out. You had noodles, sweet and sour pork, chicken balls, chinese curry, special fried rice,_ god _knows how many prawn crackers, not to mention stealing half of everybody else's food as well and then going back to the shop for seconds -"

Thor waved her remarks away. He remembered that. Jane hadn't been too pleased with the mess he'd made afterwards. It had been a cold night indeed that day.

Jane's mind raced for a solution. She was not going to serve the King and Queen of Asgard chinese takeout. No way in hell. But she had to concede; cooking in her state would be...not good. Painful even, for her. And Thor wouldn't let her. He was gentle enough, but he would do everything he physically could to stop her from entering the kitchen if it came to it.

She guessed they could always eat out at a restaurant if she really ran out of options. They didn't seem to have much choice...

"You should think carefully about this Jane." Loki warned from the couch, drawing her out of thought. It was like he could read her mind! "You truly want to expose two Asgardians, completely foreign to Earth customs, to such a populated environment?"

Jane brought a hand to her forehead. God - why hadn't she organised before hand? This was just chaos.

An unexpected nudge to her womb had her jerking back to focus, mouth falling open in surprise.

Thor frowned instantly, moving forward to cup her stomach.

Jane swotted him away. "Nothing." she said, breathing a deep measured breath. "Jesus Thor, they're little kickers alright!"

Thor grinned - but a thunderous crash cut him off before he could say anything. All eyes flew to the front of the house, a keen combinations of disbelief and horror slowly sinking in. The back door kicked open with a bang and Erik staggered in, but no one turned to look at him. They were all too busy thinking the same thoughts of dread.

_It can't be_, Jane thought, horrified the blood draining from her face. _Not now, surely. Not before I've even got a basic plan in place._

"They're here." the Erik said, confirming her worst nightmare. "Either that or a tornado just crashed into your front porch."

Still nobody moved.

"Heimdall sent no warning." Thor murmured beside Jane.

"Oh God." she moaned. Then she kicked into action as a knock hit the front door. She snapped out of Thor's arms. "Thor, answer the door. Erik, you better not have messed up my lab or I'm going to kill you." she called over her shoulder as she leapt across the room, tearing down the rules poster in one fluid motion. Bearing it to her friends was on thing, but showing her future mother and father in law that she was having regular - hem - intimacies with their son... yeah, that took it too far.

She'd built her fantasy lab after all out the back. And she had to say - she loved it! Her mind at rest at last that she would really have children this time, she was finally able to concentrate on something other than her hysteric anxiety. And she really did love it. She'd missed having that element of control in her life, organising equations, finding answers, _working_... she just needed it.

It was nice getting that security again. Her mood swings and hysteria were subsiding fast since the ultrasound, her mind set at rest. Now she was losing herself in the work she loved. She'd been on the emotional journey to Hell and back again - she deserved some Jane time. Plus, it didn't sit well with her to leech off Tony as they had so far.

She was starting to feel like herself again.

She'd made Thor a gym of his own too to try and keep him busy while she researched. So far it was working. She had a sneaking suspicion he was starting to catch on to her plan though.

The list flowed behind her like a cape as she ran upstairs, her spare hand cradling her stomach. Running was harder than she remembered! She crashed into her and Thor's bedroom and tossed it on the bed carelessly, before ripping open the draw of their bedside table.

"Where is it?" she murmured to herself as her hand rumaged amongst the draws contents. Her fingers pulled out the glossy paper of the photograph just as the chatting and greeting voices started to rise from downstairs.

Jane glanced over her shoulder. She straightened up with a smile and nudged the draw shut, planting an exaggerated kiss on the photograph before she turned and hurried back out the room.

She found Frigga's arms around her neck the second she touched down to the ground floor.

"It is so good to see you again, Jane." the goddess said fondly. Jane smiled over her shoulder at Odin, stood smiling between his two sons. It was weird seeing Asgardian clothes again after so long. Even Loki wore jeans and shirts nowadays. "I'm sorry it took so long for us to get here-"

"And for our untimely arrival." the king added with a twinkling eye, stepping forward and pressing a kiss down on Jane's cheek as soon as his wife released her.

Jane merely grinned - for real - as Thor was the next one to move forward, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a tender kiss on the mouth as if they'd been separated for hours rather than minutes! _Okay_, she thought, an unexpected wave of calm washing over her, _family complete at last. _

"You must tell us everything." Frigga fretted excitedly, settling beside her husband. "Heimdall informed us that you were having twins but..." the goddess's eyes glistened as she sighed a sad breath. "I just feel like we've missed out on so much already."

"You haven't." Darcy cut in from the kitchen counter. The two Asgardians turned, frowning lightly at Darcy's blunt tone but, polite as they were, not saying anything. "The only exciting thing they've done was the scan. Other than that, there's been nothing to do but watch Jane get fatter."

Jane's jaw dropped in horror. She knew Thor's parents had met Darcy and her remarks before but it still didn't make them any less mortifying! "Darcy!" she hissed through gritted teeth, bending sideways to shoot warning looks to the woman on the counter around Thor's body.

Her eyes widened, the annoyance draining in a heartbeat. The Asgardians turned just in time to see her mouth drop into a perfect 'o'.

"Jane?"

Jane pressed her lips together as Frigga stepped forward, waving off her and Odin's frowning concern. "It's nothing." she flickered a smile, before another gasp left her and her hand flew to her stomach. "Got their daddy's strength, that's all."

Her fingers pressed into her bump. She wouldn't say it hurt when they kicked but... damn, it was far from comfortable! She was sure babies weren't meant to be as strong as that. She guessed that was what she got for reproducing with a god of a boyfriend. Maybe Tony hadn't been as exaggerating as he'd first appeared with the whole 'mutant babies' thing.

Her eyes glanced up and saw Frigga's gleaming gaze. Jane got an idea. "You want to feel?"

She swore Frigga's eyes got even rounder. Satisfaction settled in Jane's mind; they hadn't had a chance to feel Anabelle when she'd been pregnant in Asgard. Their reaction now reminded her of Thor in the ultrasound room.

Jane reached out and gently took up the goddess's hand from her side and guided her palm to flatten over near the top of her bump, on the other side to where she'd felt the last nudge. Experience told her once one twin kicked, the other did too not long after.

When the familiar internal jab hit her womb, Frigga's lips pricked in a smile. Her eyes rolled up to Jane's face. "Oh my..."

"That's the girl." Jane smiled. "She always kicks after her brother."

Frigga's eyes gleamed like marbles, hands clasping together in joy. "You know?" she gasped, gaze flickering between Jane's stomach and her face. "How is that possible?"

"Earth has many wonderful technologies." Thor explained smoothly as he laced an arm around Jane's shoulders. His eyes flickered knowingly to Jane's. Her hand ran over her stomach proudly. "They told us we are expecting a son and a daughter, with the son lying here," his hand reached over to cup the far side of her stomach. Then he moved it across to the side closest to him. "And the daughter here."

"Incredible..." the goddess breathed. Her hand reached behind her. "Odin, you must come feel this."

The wisened king let his wife pull him forward by his hand before she handed it over to Jane, letting her place his fingers. She could feel he was more than a little reluctant; men didn't normally do this sort of thing in Asgard. They left it to the women. Thor had told her about it once. Apparently the men waited outside the birthing room during labour too.

Thor had decided he didn't want to be like that. He wanted to be there with her every step of the way and be damned with tradition.

Odin's hand finally relaxed against Jane's belly.

Jane smiled as she felt a nudge on her right side. "He likes to have the last word." Her eyes glanced up knowingly to Thor, as Odin pulled his hand away, the same amazed look in his humbled eyes as was in Frigga's.

Thor's hand reached down from across her shoulders and plucked the picture from between her fingers. "We got you this." Jane could practically feel the smile in his warm tone as he held out the photograph to his father. Odin accepted it, numbly drawing it closer.

"Is that..." he started to ask, Frigga reaching up from his side to better angle the picture down to her. The king's wisened orbs started to shimmer.

Jane nodded, looping her arm around Thor's waist. "It's them. We got a picture." She glanced up at Thor, meeting his sparkling eye. "We thought you'd like it." Neither Frigga nor Odin said anything, both still absorbed in the ultrasound photograph. "Boy on the left, girl on the right."

"Oh my..." Frigga's voice cracked and her hand rose to her mouth, eyes glistening dangerously.

Jane smiled on happily - she found it adorable. She'd seen the same sort of overjoyed/suprised/amazed sort of expression on Thor's face plenty of times, but it didn't make it any less magical on his parents. Jane never got tired of it; knowing just how happy the Asgardians must be behind it.

Frigga was inseperable from the picture from then on. The goddess had kept it cradled protectively close to her at all times, right through the tour of the house, to their room, out to the lab...it would have been impossible to pry it from the goddess's hands - not that Jane or Thor wanted to. It was a gift to them. A very well chosen one, judging by the king and queen's doting reaction.

The settling in bit was less smooth: explaining how the shower worked was an adventure in itself! That was the sort of thing that had made Jane nervous. She knew Frigga and Odin were nice enough people, but they'd never seen electricity in any other form than Thor's lightning! And in a world where everything ran on the sparky stuff, from the 'rain' in the showerhead to the lights above their heads ... it had taken a while to convince them that the unseen power wasn't some form of Loki's magic. Jane couldn't help but wonder if they'd have believed her if she hadn't been the logical, no nonsense believing scientist they knew her to be.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Frigga later asked as they sat outside, Thor tending to the barbeque.

It was a stroke of genius, Jane thought: a form of primitive cooking where Thor couldn't possibly break anything. Even he could slap some meat on the grill until it was the right colour! Jane sat smugly in the deck chair, proud of her idea. They'd needed a way to get through all that meat in their kitchen anyway.

"Not yet." Jane confessed with a glance at her boyfriend by the grill. "We'd had some... disagreements on that the last time."

"I have suggestions, Jane." Thor chipped in with a correcting smile. "You know what I think for our son's name."

Jane sighed and leaned further back in her chair. "It was bad enough when you wanted to name the baby after your friends." Her eyes flickered to Frigga's intuitive gaze. "Now he wants to name the boy after_ himself_."

"Torald, Torger and Thurstan are courageous names!"

Jane rolled her eyes. "They also mean 'Thor ruler', 'spear of Thor' and 'Thor's stone' respectively."

Darcy let out a low whistle from the open back door of the house. "Arrogant much." Her arms were folded as she leaned against the door frame.

The god of Thunder shrugged and shot a look over his shoulder to his father, stood beside him at the grill. The king smirked back. "We agree though that we want the names to mean something." Thor said, roaming his eyes back to the women. "I think, in the end, that will narrow down the decision."

"Yeah," Jane agreed, hugging her arms loosely over her stomach. "Meaningful and Norse. Those sort of names would fit in better in Asgard."

"Make sure my name's crossed off the list!" Erik chuckled from his chair, earning a smirk from Jane.

"Erik is a Norse name." Loki explained before Darcy could blurtingly ask, filling the rest of the doorway beside her. "It is rather fitting actually. It means 'ruler of the people'. Very apt for a future king of Asgard."

Thor's eyes shone, and Jane read his thoughts. "No." she told him sternly. "We agreed. We're not naming the babies after people we know."

Darcy let out a whine from the doorway. "Shame." she pouted. "Darcy is, like, the best name ever."

**NOTE**

**Okay, the name situation is getting out of control. So many are coming in! I'll put them all on the poll as promised, but by now it'll be hard to get a winner so late in. And we'll see. It's a shame 'cos a lot of names you send me are really nice :(**

**Maybe I'll have to write another baby fic to be able to use all the names I like XD**

**I'll add in the meanings to the poll entries as well, so you know what you're voting for. Thanks for reading.**

**And I was away on holiday for a week and the damned caravan had no wifi, hence why I waited a whole week to update. Shouldn't happen in future. I hope. x**


	10. Parenthood

Sleep was getting harder. For both of them.

"Do not take offence, Jane," Thor grumbled as they settled down for bed one night. "But I do miss the days I could hold you properly."

Jane pouted sadly. "So do I."

Thor's hand hovered on the stomach, holding her - not so comfortably - in place with her back against his chest. Her swelling stomach just made it impossible to easily reach around her anymore. This was the best they could do. Jane felt safe in Thor's arms, comforted by the feel of him behind her back and behind her hips.

But 'safe' didn't do anything for her sleep when the twins kicked her out of her mind every time she settled down.

She knew that though Thor's hand now rested on the peak of her belly, by the time he drifted into sleep it would recede to the side of where her waist used to be. Then she'd feel as good as alone again. Her lips pouted more at the thought.

"Don't go to the lab tonight."

Jane swore in her head. So Thor had noticed; when she couldn't sleep and she _thought_ Thor was safely out for the count, she slunk away to her lab to do some calming work. It was the only peace she could find. It settled her troubled mind, and she read out her research until the twins fell asleep inside her as if she'd read them a night time story instead. It worked the same. She'd be having two little scientists it seemed.

Thor felt her body tense and nuzzle his lips into her neck tenderly, as if he was reading her mind: "What is troubling you?"

She didn't answer him immediately. Jane drew in a shaky breath.

What wasn't troubling her? Everything! She had so much to organize, to worry about before the babies were even born. And then she thought of after the birth and she got terrified.

"I don't know how to be a mum." she finally confessed, tone cracking weakly. Her fingers found Thor's on her stomach and clenched tight. "Mine wasn't there. She was gone before I could get a chance to even remember her. And now I've got to somehow be a mother to two kids right off the bat. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Thor's body stiffened as well. So she was sharing the same worries as he was: she was scared of being a parent.

Thor tightened his arm around her and nestled her more firmly against his body. His fingers stroked over her stomach. "It will be fine." he reassured her as best he could. "We will try our best."

It was hard to comfort her when he felt just as uncertain. How in Odin's name was he going to be a father?! It was a just a few years ago that he was crown prince of Asgard, free and reckless, a new woman gracing his bed each night. And now he was to be a father to two children. He was afraid. What if he wasn't a good father? He looked at Odin and knew that he was indeed a great father, but when it came to pinpointing what it was that made him a great father... Thor couldn't narrow it down.

What was he going to do? He didn't want to fail his babies or Jane, but he simply had no idea what he was going to do. He could fight his way through warriors, and battles, and vicious worlds... but there was no sort of training for fatherhood.

Jane shifted in his arms and Thor loosened his hold, letting her shuffle freely until she was face to face with him.

Her brow was knitted with worry. "What if my best isn't good enough?" she breathed. "I'm a scientist, Thor. We're not thought of as the most motherly."

Thor pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Just look at how you've been though." he breathed, easing her as close as her round stomach would allow. "You're concern is proof enough of your dedication. When these children are born they will be loved, and that is the most important thing. The rest we must take one step at a time."

Thor had no idea where all this was coming from, but when Jane lowered her eyes and nodded, he guessed he was going in the right direction.

"I guess." she finally murmured. "I supposed everyone goes through this sort of thing before having their first kid." Her fingers roamed down to her stomach and a small smile flickered over her lips. "And we're jumping right in the deep end by tackling two at once."

Thor pressed another kiss to her forehead, teasing her gaze calmly back to his. "If anyone can do it, we can."

The smile on Jane's lips settled more firmly in place and Thor stared over her, drinking in her peaceful image again. It wasn't often he saw her so relaxed. He wasn't wasting a second of it.

"I'd missed you." he breathed instinctively. "I'm glad you are yourself again."

For a moment, his heart stopped and he realized just what he had said. His arms stiffened and he waited for the pursed lips, the narrowed eyes, the finger to point to the door... but Jane smiled on. The god breathed a sigh of relief. He was very glad now that Jane was back to herself - beforehand, that sort of innocently meant comment earned him a very hard, deserty night.

"Me too." Jane's hand found his bicep and squeezed happily. "Your mother said that it was all because the babies weren't human. The Asgardian in them sent my body into overdrive. Hormones and all."

Jane was glad that part of her pregnancy was over. She was fed up of feeling unwell, of getting irritated by every little thing, of getting unmanageable cravings, sleeping trouble, emotional outbursts, panic, anger... she finally felt fully herself again: focused, calm, patient, logically figuring things out to the letter.

She was Jane Foster again. Only bigger. With a little Thor and Thorette inside her.

She didn't mind her size now. It was a comfort, in a way. She was still going; nothing could go wrong now, could it? Her babies were babies, and they weren't going anywhere until they were in her arms.

And the dressing part was fun, now she was in a mood enough to enjoy it. Thor was still trying to convince her to opt for maternal dresses, but Jane resisted. She was determined to stick to her leggings for as long as she could. The shirts were growing on her - though she wasn't crazy about her belly button, pushed onto the outside of her body and making a noticeable lump through the shirt material. Thor thought it was cute. Jane didn't. She grimaced every time her fingers ran over it.

"How soon can we go back to Asgard after they're born, do you think?" Jane asked, her mind straying to other matters.

Thor's eyes rolled away thoughtfully. "I don't know." His arms settled comfortably around her. Normally the action would bring her hips to his, but... not anymore. "There is no rush to go back. We could stay here for some time."

Jane's eyes lit up. "Seriously? You'd ... you'd stay? You wouldn't mind? I thought you'd want them to get to Asgard as soon as possible."

Thor shrugged. "Asgard will still be there after a year or two. And extensive research has informed me that this might be a more fulfilling place for the children to grow up."

"Extensive research?" Jane was torn between smiling, and frowning with confusion. She was still trying to get her head around the fact that Thor didn't want to shoot back to Asgard and stay there! He'd always been so fond of his home realm. "You've thought about this?"

"Loki and I explored the system on your laptop. The concept of education services and health care is most reassuring." His eyes lowered down to hers and he smiled warmly, leaning in to kiss her chastely on the mouth. "And besides," he murmured against her lips. "I know how important your work is to you. I would hate to deprive you of it for another lengthy bout of time."

Jane pushed her lips against his. "Mm... I'm not sure about work yet. I think we'll have to see how demanding two babies will be before we plan me back into the lab. It's not going to be easy."

Thor laughed. His warm breath washed comfortingly over Jane's face. "True. I'm sure it will be quite the challenge."

"But fun." Jane amended with a smile. "Better than work any day."

She was being positive about it while she could. She was sure she wouldn't be thinking the same way when she had two babies that wanted feeding, changing, bathing, cleaning up, cuddling, attention in the middle of the night... still, she'd never turned down a challenge before. She wasn't about to start now. And as much as she loved her work, she just doubted how much energy and time she'd have to do it with two babies on her hands.

And Darcy would be there every step of the way, no doubt, to point, laugh and mock her about it. Jane's eyes rolled at the thought: at least in Asgard she could shrug her off in the shade!

_Speaking of Darcy…._

"Hey, I have a question." She suddenly said as it hit her; the unanswered wonder that had bugged her mind for ages. Her brow furrowed lightly, eyes staring curiously into Thor's crystal blue orbs. "Are Darcy and Loki together? Has he said anything to you?" A sparkle glinted in Thor's eyes and a smirk pricked his lips, but Jane went on anyway. "'Cause they've been pretty cozy with each other since they've got back from Asgard but I haven't caught them doing anything and Darcy would never spill, so…" she trailed off and sucked in a much needed breath after her rush.

Thor chuckled, and rolled onto his back, looping an arm around Jane's shoulders to keep her close. She nestled against his chest. "Loki has spoken to me." He admitted, grinning at the ceiling. "He said he had asked Darcy about the nature of their relationship and that she had told him they were 'friends with benefits'. Loki did not understand."

The god's on-going grin and mischievous tone told Jane that a certain Tony Stark had already explained to him what the phrase meant. She made a mental note to limit Thor's exposure time to the genius; he was picking up bad habits.

A grin of her own stretched as she listened to his words. "She_ so_ likes him." It was nice to have some dirt on Darcy at last.

"Indeed."

For a moment, they just lay there in silence, smiling, lost in their own happy thoughts. Jane moved her hand across to the left side of Thor's chest and her spare down to her stomach, basking in the warmth of the two most wonderful things in her world. She could feel Thor's pulsing heartbeat beneath her palm.

"Is there anything else I need to know about these two do you think?" she wondered aloud, thoughts trailing to the twins again. "What if the personality transplant was just the start and they're going to come out glowing something?"

Thor laughed and Jane bobbed on his rumbling chest. "I hardly think that will happen." He chuckled, running his fingers gently through her hair.

Jane pressed her lips together "I'm serious." Her hips bumped playfully with his, only earning her another less than serious chuckle from the god. "Your mother said that all the usual symptoms would be ten times as strong because I'm mortal and they're half Asgardian and there's two of them… if there's going to be anything else like the morning sickness or the mood swings, I want to know about it."

That stilled the laugh in Thor's chest in a heartbeat – yes, he did not want to relive those days either! His throat ran dry as he thought frantically for a solution. "What would we be able to do about it though?" he asked, feeling as nervous as if he was walking on ice. He did not want to upset Jane on such a delicate matter. "Even if we knew."

Jane shrugged awkwardly on Thor's shoulder. "I don't know." Her lips murmured into his shirt. "Be prepared, I guess. At least you would know what's going on as well."

The god glanced down sharply to the woman in his arms, a frown nudging into his features. He thought he'd been keeping up, that he knew what was going on. He'd been trying to be as kind and attentive as he could to keep up. Was she saying that for all his efforts he'd _missed_ what she'd truly felt?

Jane felt his gaze and glanced up, meeting his concerned blue orbs with her innocent brown ones. "I didn't mean it like that." She said quickly, feeling Thor's arm stiffen around her. It was a dangerous precursor to pulling away.

"Then what did you mean?" A disgruntled look settled on Thor's face.

"I just meant…" Jane's mind searched for a way to phrase it, eyes rolling to the ceiling in thought. "Well, some of the other stuff I just kept quiet about and toughed it out. And they're not the sort of thing you'd be able to pick up unless I told you about them."

She'd hoped her explanation would ease the hurt in her boyfriend's expression, but the concern only deepened further. "What sort of things?"

_Damn_, Jane cursed in her head, fluttering her eyes shut. Leaping from one disaster to another; she knew Thor didn't like her in distress. The idea that she'd been suffering in silence must be infuriating for him. She could feel his hand stiffen on her body, radiating his inner rage as gently as he dared.

She sighed, and her hands clawed in his shirt to make sure he didn't go anywhere. "Well…" her mind searched for which one annoyed her the most. Her symptoms may not be as obvious as the sickness or mood swings, but they were still bugging her. "The heartburn sucks. And the headaches." Her gaze lifted to Thor's and she was surprised that her eyes felt as wet as they did. Maybe she wasn't over the emotional bit as much as she'd thought; "And I know you like the stretch marks and the button but they make me feel _really_ fat."

She wasn't sure if it was the threatening tears – which she was quickly getting angry at herself for – or what she was telling him that provoked them. Either way, she wasn't complaining when Thor's face suddenly softened and his arms enveloped her softly.

He pressed a tender kiss to her temples. "I'm sorry." He murmured against her skin. "I did not realize."

Jane reached her arm around Thor's warm body and hugged him close, burying her face in his shirt. "It really sucks." She moaned lightly against his chest. "And I don't want to have sex anymore."

She felt Thor's arms stiffen noticeably around her.

"I mean, I still want to have sex." She clarified quickly, biting her lip apologetically. "It's just that it hurts when I have to be on my back. I know it's been getting more difficult recently but now it's started to actually _hurt _and I really can't do that anymore…"

A heavy, broken sigh left Thor's lips. "You make my job of taking care of you very difficult sometimes, Jane Foster." He breathed out calmer than Jane had expected. It was a nice surprise; no guilt, no hurt, no anger… he must understand her better than she gave him credit for. He tucked her head under his chin. "You should have told me sooner."

She snuggled more firmly against his chest but her bump got in the way of the rest of her body doing the same. Thor groaned the same frustration she felt inside.

Jane pounded a light fist into Thor's stomach. "I've heard spooning is alright..." Her bright eyes lifted suggestively to his. Thor's brow was knitted with confusion. "Get behind me." She offered in simple explanation.

The god's orbs suddenly roundened as her meaning started to sink in. He couldn't scramble behind her fast enough; he dodged over her body with as much agility as the god he was and settled on the bed behind her, easing her body back against his chest. His arms draped loosely around her middle as their pelvises touched. Jane's hand found his forearm. Thor nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck, enjoying sharing her warmth for a moment.

Then suddenly Jane stilled.

Thor paused. "Jane?"

He loosened his arms around her but Jane didn't move, as if she were frozen in place. He peeled his lips from her neck and tried to lean forward to get a glimpse of her face. Was it just him or did she look a touch paler than usual?

The god was starting to get anxious; his throat ran dry. "Jane? What's wrong?"

She still didn't say a word, not even acknowledging she'd heard him. Her eyes were wide, staring ahead at nothing as if she were in shock. Her whole body tensed.

Thor watched with a frown, the breaths hitching nervously in his throat as Jane's hand ventured down from his arm to between her legs. His gut knotted sickeningly.

Jane swore violently.

"Jane?" His voice croaked, but he didn't care. What was wrong? Something had to be wrong. His heart thudded in his chest; _it couldn't be_, he thought, _it can't be happening again, can it?_

His heart was in his mouth, but a part of him refused to let the panic surface. There were little clues from Jane that it wasn't what he feared. For one, she wasn't in hysterics. She was _swearing_. She wouldn't be doing that if it were something serious. And she hadn't pulled her hand up yet. It might not be blood, he told himself.

Finally Jane swallowed hard and Thor felt her press her thighs together firmly. "The little…" she murmured bitterly, more to herself than anyone.

Thor tried not to jump when she suddenly nudged herself free, jerking her large body to the edge of the bed and easing herself upright. She made a bee line for their chest of drawers. More specifically, her underwear draw. Thor stayed frozen in the bed, confused. "What is it?" he asked, too lost to even frown.

Jane snapped the draw shut, and the new pair of panties hung from her fingers. "If I find out which one of them it was…" she trailed off and pressed her lips together, eyes rolling to the ceiling.

Thor was still lost. "What?"

Jane's face flushed red as she snapped her gaze back down to the god on the bed, lip quivering as her pride tried to kick its way to the surface through her shame. Her finger pointed to her stomach. "One of them kicked my bladder!" Thor's eyes flickered between her pointing finger and her face, her unsaid meaning starting to work into his brain. He grinned. "They've made me wet myself."


	11. Nursery

Jane as good as waddled into the 'baby room', scraping her hair back from her face as she did so. She fastened it in a firm ponytail.

"Jane," Thor moaned, his paint roller hovering over the wall. "I thought we agreed this was too great a task for you. What of the no fumes rule? It is simply not practical in your condition."

Jane ignored him and strode forward, unhooking a small device from the waistband of her leggings and fastening it to her face, the metal like structure clinging over her nose and mouth. She took a deep breath and a metallic rasp sounded.

"When did Darth Vader get here?" Tony rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt as he strode in, droll eyes rolling to Jane.

She glared at him, ripping the futuristic fume mask off her face. "You - fix it." She tossed the device to the billionaire and he abandoned his sleeve rolling to catch it. Then Jane turned to Thor, somewhat calmer. Not by much though. "And you - the only '_condition_' I have is feeling really maternal right now. So if you think you're gonna paint my babies' room and leave me out of it, you've got another thing coming."

Thor blinked darkly at her, unsure. It didn't stop him from offering his hand to her though; Jane took it and leaned on him heavily as she lowered herself down to her knees. "I still do not think this is wise."

"It will be fine, Thor." Jane reassured calmly, straightening her ragged shirt over her bloated body before she sat back on her heels. "I'm only going to stick to around the skirting board, okay. Even I'll admit I can't really reach for anything like this."

"Here." Tony finished tampering with the mask and tossed it back to her. Jane caught it nimbly and returned it to her face. "I changed the setting."

Jane took another testing breath. Her body relaxed when it sounded normal. Her round eyes blinked up brightly at Thor.

It did nothing to reassure him.

"Jane," he didn't hide his wary tone. "What is that?"

Jane shuffled to face the wall, picking up a nearby paintbrush. "It's a gas mask." she said calmly, sounding like herself still and pulling the nearest pot of paint closer. "Tony made it for me, so I could help paint my children's room along with the rest of you."

Tony turned just in time to catch the god's glare, waving a patronizing hand over his shoulder. He turned his back and rolled his paint roller up the wall.

The newspaper that coated the floor crinkled as Jane nudged herself closer to the wall, dipping her paintbrush in the pot and pulling it out with a cream tip. Thor still hovered in place, watching her. She could feel Steve and Loki behind her as well, still and waiting to see if Thor would throw her out. Jane let out an inward laugh, smile hidden by her mask - _let him try!_

"Who taped the skirting board?" she asked, changing the subject. Her paintbrush ran along the bottom of the wall, the white skirting board protected by a length of masking tape.

"I did." Steve spoke up.

"Captain D.I.Y." Tony rolled. "Old men are always good at this sort of thing, aren't they?"

Jane masked her grin again; she could practically feel Steve shooting a death-glare at the genius behind her back. Tony merely shrugged. He ran the paint brush lazily along the wall in random motions and Jane was reassured that at least someone knew that they were doing as Steve expertly turned to the wall and ran his roller up, leaving a neat trail of cream.

"Loki," she moved on, keenly moving around the room to ease the tension bit by bit. Her eyes were down on her bit of wall but she could feel Thor was still watching her, studying her progress. "Darcy not chipping in?"

The God of Mischief's sigh was more than audible. "She decided to take my parents on a shopping trip to get them some mortal clothes."

Tony's bark of laughter beat Jane's. "God help them!"

Jane brushed her brush up vertically from the wall, still giggling. "Tony - Pepper?"

"Picking up Clint and 'Tasha at the airport with Bruce. She said she wouldn't be long but..." he trailed off with another shrug. While Pepper may be the most efficient woman in the world, for all their training and accuracy, Natasha and Clint seemed to like taking their sweet time in… well, everything. They were always late. "What is this? You taking some sort of register?" Tony arched an eyebrow over his shoulder, but Jane didn't turn to see it, running her brush smoothly along the skirting board.

"Just curious, that's all." Jane mumbled, still watching Thor out of the corner of her eye. She pressed her lips together in satisfaction as he reluctantly turned back to the wall and reattached the roller, though his eyes lingered for a moment longer.

"You're going to ruin that shirt, Jane." Steve's expert voice warned from behind her.

Jane straightened up for a minute and glanced down at her black shirt. It already had flecks of cream on it. She stretched out the material with her thumb and forefinger, distorting the mostly loaded power bar and the words above and below it_: Baby loading. Please stand by._

She shrugged it off as too late and bent over back to her work. Her hand steadied on the stomach as she made her slow insignificant progress over the next hour. She felt like a crab; nudging along the base of the wall through her knees, scooting her along, since rising and lowering again every pace along the wall would be too troublesome. Plus, she knew it would drain her energy. Then she'd be forced to surrender to Thor's inevitable suggestion of rest and would be out of the nursery-painting job for good.

She wasn't going to let that happen. She gritted her jaw in solid determination, creaming along the lower part of the walls until she had nearly ran the span of the wall.

She didn't notice the men finish their own work long ago, watching her from a small huddle by the doorway with amused grins. Thor was at the forefront, arms crossed loosely over his broad chest. He'd soon relaxed, after the exertion of the work drained his anxieties and made him see sense again.

Jane finished the last of the skirting board and finally noticed the silence and the stillness. Her eyes crept over her shoulder, colour flushing her cheeks as she saw the men watching her.

"Darcy will not be happy that you've ruined her shirt." Loki mused, smirk plastered firmly on his face.

Jane narrowed her eyes, mask preventing her pursed her lips from revealing her irritation, and cursed the next burst of heat on her cheeks. She shifted as best she could with the miniature mountain of her stomach and nudged around the face them, sat on her knees. "There's too much to do for you to just be standing there." She said bluntly, desperate to move them on to … well, anything other than staring at her!

Steve's knowing grin took center stage. "Actually, we have to wait for this coat to be at least touch dry before we can do another layer. So until then…"

Thor chuckled at the dismay that splayed unhindered across Jane's face, unfolding his arms and stepping forward to examine the texture of the painted wall across the nursery-to-be. Jane could see even from her distance it was still not firm.

She opened her mouth to tell him so but yelped instead as an unexpected tautness washed over her bumb. She bowed forward with a light groan, feeling the sensation ripple through her.

Thor jerked round so hard he had to shoot an arm out to steady himself against the wall as the momentum stumbled him back against his loose footing. He felt the stickiness of the paint mold around his palm. He didn't dare pull it away yet though, eyes captivated on Jane as her back hunched over her stomach, face twisting. Her brush hovered uselessly in the air.

"What is it?" he barked, heartbeat rising. A part of him reminded him not to freak out every time Jane felt a twinge, but...

Jane straightened her spine slowly, setting the paintbrush down. She peeled the mask from her face too, revealing her teeth caught lip. Her hand rubbed firmly over her belly. "You remember those brief, painless contractions of the uterus you once told me about?"

"Braxton Hicks contractions?" Thor blinked in surprise at himself – how did he remember the name? Perhaps it was unintentionally fused in his head from the night they lost Anabelle.

"Yeah, those." Jane lifted her gaze up from her stomach to her boyfriend, eyes glistening round. But calmly, Thor noticed, breathing a sigh of relief. He really did have to teach himself not to jump to drastic conclusions like that. He was so anxious lately. The constant fear that they'd come so far and might yet be disappointed haunted him well. "I think that was it. And get your hand off the wall before you ruin in."

Thor suddenly remembered himself and snatched his palm away from the wet surface, staring down at his cream covered skin with a frown. Jane sighed at the handprint on the wall.

Thor bent down hastily and snatched up a discarded roller, flattening it over his blemish. His heart sank as it just peeled more sticky paint from its smooth finish. The handprint remained distinct, and he realized with horror the extent of his sudden heavy lean.

"Why did you have to be a god?" Jane moaned for the first – and hopefully last! - time in her life. Her lips pouted at the dent in the wall, Thor's awesome strength and weight having pushed his handprint further than just smudged paint. There was a noticeable curve in the surface now.

Thor let the roller fall from his hand, his throat dry. How could he fix this? His eyes flickered over his shoulder at Steve, the Captain cradling his chin between his thumb and forefinger, a troubled expression on his face. Loki's face looked a tad paler than he remembered, green orbs anxiously flickering to the pregnant woman on the floor and her look of despair. Tony just laughed. His hand steadied him against the doorframe as he gawfed shamelessly, doubling over from the intensity of his laughs.

Jane groaned.

Thor could but roll his eyes down to her apologetically, not quite knowing what to do or say to comfort her.

A quiet chuckle from Steve suddenly recaptured the god's attention and he flickered his eyes to the Captain. He was grinning, eyes bright with inspiration. "You should write your name on it." He said, nodding to the hand-printed wall. "So they know it was you who did it."

Thor sighed in a combination of gloom and shame, shoulders slumping. A sudden brightness sparking Jane's eyes and straightening her body stopped it in mid breath.

He could practically see her mind working behind her orbs, gaze wearing the same thinking, inspirited glint that Steve's did. She was forming an idea, Thor realized with a warming surge of hope. And better – an idea from Jane was bound to be one she liked, ergo solving two problems at once. He could fix this and Jane's dejection all in one.

Well, she would fix it for herself. The smile started to spread on her face thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea." She slowly mused.

She didn't let Tony's sharply fixing gaze deter her, feeling his frown of fake astonishment. His droll humour was back. "Wow," he droned, "Preggers is lightening up at last."

Jane pressed her lips together, refusing to let him snap her back. He was trying to provoke her, she knew. She merely shot him a sickeningly sweet smile which only deepened his sarcastic scowl, before turning her eyes back to Thor. Her arms reached up to him like a child. "Help me, please."

Thor padded obediently over and clasped her tiny hands in his large ones, engulfing them and pulling her to her feet effortlessly. Her hand steadied at her bump.

"Whoa." She breathed, feeling the nudge from within her womb. They'd woken up at last, Jane thought. Maybe they had some sort of reaction to Tony's dry humour. It'd make sense after all the names he called them, 'mutants', 'sprogs' and 'blobs' just to name a few. "I think they like it." Her hands ran over her stomach, feeling the subtly shifting lumps beneath her skin. "Or maybe they're irritated you broke their wall."

A smile flickered over Loki and Steve's faces, both at Jane's words and the suddenly anxious look that gleamed Thor's eyes. It went as soon as it had come when he realized he was being played with.

"You could make it work." Tony's unexpected voice suggested. Jane and Thor turned to the genius, half astonished at the all too serious look on his face. No hint of joking at all. Jane fought the urge to let out an impressed whistle; _damn_, she thought, it was rare to see the billionaire so genuine! Stark scoffed at the looks. "What? I'm not allowed to have an idea once in a while?"

Normally, the concept of Stark's 'ideas' set Jane stark on edge with unease, but frankly what more could she have to worry about? Thor had ground a bloody great dent in their babies' room, while those in question contented themselves by playing football with her internal organs. Jane made sure she kept a pad inside her panties at all times now, just in case. Her hand ran over her stomach, enjoying her brief period of respite; breaks in their restless stretching cycle were all too scarce.

Jane watched curiously with her hands massaging her back as Tony lazily crossed the room to the hand-print, examining it with scrutiny. "Cover it up." He said simply. He turned on his heel to settle his dull brown eyes on Jane, as if waiting for it to sink in.

A frown was all that answered him. He rolled his eyes and strode back out the door, reappearing seconds later with two fresh cans of paint.

Jane's eyes scored over the colour blocks on the front as Tony clomped them down and proceeded to prize the lids open with a discarded screwdriver. Then something clicked in her head, and Tony's plan became apparent. "I understand." She nodded. Thor shifted awkwardly where he stood beside Jane as the pot of baby blue was revealed to her and Tony spilled some out into a tray. He did the same with the light pink. Jane raised an eyebrow sideways at Thor. "And we have those colours… why?"

The god blushed slightly. Jane thought they'd agreed to keep the colours neutral. The guilty look on Thor's face told her he'd obviously bypassed it with Stark's help.

"We thought that we could decorate one half of the room appropriate for the boy, and the other half for the girl." He admitted, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck. He was still avoiding her gaze, until he was certain she would not scold him for what he was revealing to her. "I did not anticipate you would be joining us and had planned it as a surprise, but…"

"But," Stark cut in, arm around the tray holding it up against his torso. "My idea is just better. And I'll be damned if you're the only ones who get to do it."

It seems Steve had caught on too, though Loki and Thor still exchanged confused glances; obviously, Asgardian kids didn't enjoy the privilege of finger painting. "Come on, Stark, that's not fair. It's their nursery, not yours."

"Hey, I put in the effort for this place." Stark went on defensively, jabbing his finger possessively down to the floor. Jane bit back her refute. "I want to make sure those little blobs know it."

A smile pricked at Jane's lips, though she had to put a calming hand on Thor's shoulder as he stiffened. Experience had taught her he didn't like anyone – not even friends like Tony – insulting his babies. She remembered when she was the one attacking Tony for insulting her children. "That's not a bad idea." She mused more to herself than to anyone, eyes lingering on the hand-dent on the wall. She could just imagine it filled with paint… and she liked the thought. "Go for it." She finally decided, snapping forward into action. She went to Steve and Loki and grabbed an arm of each, pulling them forward towards the paint. "Handprints on the wall guys, and we'll write your names underneath."

Steve and Loki staggered unsurely as Jane let them go, glancing at her over their shoulders. Jane unhooked the Sharpie pen from the waistband of her black leggings, and popped it open, as if making her point.

"Go on." She urged, nodding to the wall. "Choose a colour and stamp two handprints on the wall, side by side. Okay?" she was explaining more for Loki's sake than Steve's.

Loki nodded, still looking uncertain.

Tony had already filled out another tray of blue paint and held it out to Jane, and she took it, hooking her Sharpie arm through Thor's and steering him towards his handprint on the wall. Stark directed Rogers and Loki to the other side of the nursery.

Jane put her Sharpie away for a moment, and took Thor's cream flecked wrist in her hand, dipping his palm faced down fully in the tray. It came out dripping in blue paint. Her lips parted in a smile at Thor's brow, twisted in muddle as she angled his hand back over the hand printed dent in the wall, Thor letting her direct him as if he were as limp as a doll. His digits fit firmly within the dent of the wall.

"There." Jane nodded in approval as she squelched Thor's palm away. A large blue hand print was left in his wake. "I like it." She smiled warmly up at him.

His knotted brow started to ease.

The smile started to blossom on his face as he caught on, and he needed no direction from Jane to dip his other palm in the paint and repeat the action beside the first. "As do I." he grinned, looping an arm around her shoulders, unintentionally rubbing paint into the shoulder of her shirt as they both admired the god's creation. Thor's two handprints gleamed baby blue from the wall.

Thor took the tray from her and put it down on the floor, taking up the pink one instead. He held it for Jane while she put her two handprints on the wall beside Thor's in light pink.

She was giggling like a teenager as she rubbed the paint off her hands into a towel and found her Sharpie, neatly scrawling her and Thor's names under their hand prints. Her back turned, she didn't notice Thor take a brush to the door frame.

She straightened up, glancing over her shoulder to see the boys at work (Tony's handprints closer to the door in blue, then Loki's in pink, and Steve's ending the line in blue), catching Thor's small paint brush lapping gently at the height of the door frame instead. She stared at the blue symbols he painted with fascination, arching all around the doorway.

Jane moved to stand beside him as he finished, hand touching his arm. "What are those?" she asked, eyes washing over the jagged, unusual blue marks against the white frame.

"They are Norse runes."

The symbols ran in a pattern, the first a pair of crossed lines, then a sharply drawn 'P', two interlocked right angles forming the third, and an upright pitchfork forming the last, before the chain repeated.

"This one is Gebo." Thor's large finger pointed to the first rune. "It means gift." His bright eyes flickered knowingly to Jane's and she smiled. Did he even need to explain that one? No, Jane grinned, eyes tracing the bright blue line of the rune, hand flattening over her huge stomach. He most definitely did not. "Then this is Wunjo." He flashed down a cheeky, lopsided grin; "It means glory." He finally revealed. "I could not help myself."

Jane merely pressed her lips together and leaned her head against his bicep happily. He could hope for a little warrior if he wanted. So long as they stayed on Earth though, Jane thought, that would be hard to realize…

"This is my favourite." Thor went on, indicating the third symbol. "This is Jera, for a good harvest." His arm loped around Jane's shoulders fondly as he explained, neither one of them caring about the blue hand print that was rubbing off on Jane's shirt. "It stands for the results of earlier efforts being realized. A time of peace and happiness, hopes and expectations…" He sighed dreamily and Jane clung to him tighter. "The promise of success earned at last."

She didn't need to be an expert to decode his words. They were going to have the babies they'd been promised. Their harvest was coming in. Jane decided Jera was her favourite rune too.

"And lastly, Algiz."

Jane snapped herself back to focus and honed her gaze in on the last symbol of the chain around the doorframe.

She tried not to be worried by Thor's hands stroking her shoulder, working the paint unintentionally deeper into the fabric. "It is for protection."

Jane nodded, pressing her lips together. Apt, she thought, trying not to be anxious by thinking of what her babies might need protection from in the first place. She'd battle anything to keep them safe, never mind what Thor was prepared to do. "At least they've got some part of their Asgardian heritage down here on Earth." She finally smiled up at him.

Thor opened his mouth to say something back-

"You heathen!" Darcy's shrieking voice snapped all heads to the doorway, grins forming at her expression of horror.

Jane span out of Thor's arms in the process. She wasn't sure if Darcy's mad gaze was trained at her or Thor but as the woman stormed closer, dropping her shopping bags at the door, she saw her eyes were flickering between them both. She vaguely noticed Erik, Frigga and Odin pool in the doorway before Darcy demanded her attention again.

"You've totally ruined that shirt!" Darcy blasted. "Is that what you do to stuff I give you? Smother it in paint?! And you!" Thor bared his blue palms peacefully, backing away a step as Darcy turned her accusing finger to him. He started to regret the blue handprint on Jane's shoulder.

Jane sighed, strangely unfazed. "What else could I wear? None of my old stuff would fit me anymore. I didn't have much choice Darce-"

She stopped in her tracks as Darcy snapped her blazing eyes back to her.

"You should join in Darcy." Loki's calm voice distracted the young woman from amongst the cluster of painted men by their handprints on the wall. She spun round and locked her gaze on Loki. The god grinned on, as untroubled as Jane was. _He must be used to it by now_, she thought. "There is enough space for all, and it is most enjoyable-"

"Zip it."

Loki pressed his lips together obediently, though his grin remained firmly in place. Jane waited for Darcy to fly into another rage, but she held Loki's eyes a moment longer and – mercifully – the tension started to slack in her stiff shoulders.

A heavy huffing sigh left Darcy's lips. Slowly, she peeled her gaze from Loki's and seemed to notice the marks on the wall for the first time.

"Oh my God." She whined, her anger drained completely as her shoulder's lowered even more in childlike disappointment. Jane could practically see the pout on her friends face, so typical of her melodramatic personality: "You did _hand painting_ and you didn't call me?"

XXX

As the sun fell outside, Jane sat in the middle of the completed nursery, a single lamp illuminating the room around her. Thor walked in quietly.

"It has turned out well, hasn't it?" He read her thoughts, smiling the same contented grin that was plastered peacefully on Jane's face. He crouched down and settled down behind her, easing Jane's body back against his chest.

Her hand ran over her bump. "It feels so real now."

The handprints ran along the middle of the wall like a border, the names written neatly under each pair. Pepper's pink handprints finished along the boy's wall, while Frigga and Odin's trailed up Thor and Jane's side, in pink and blue respectively. Along the back were Bruce, then Natasha, then Clint and Darcy, forming alternate patterns of blue and pink, large and small. Various swirling signatures marked beneath the names of the artists, signing their caring devotion to the two future occupants.

It warmed Jane inside just to look at it; it was like the twins would forever be surrounded by those who loved them, Thor's wondrous runes on the doorway guarding them. It was absolutely perfect.

"I'm sure they will love it." Thor murmured into her ear, fingers lacing through hers over her blooming stomach.

A soft internal nudge was his answer.

* * *

**NOTE**

**I'm sorry! College has started now and... frankly I just don't have as much time D': It sucks as much for me as it does for you. I still write craftily on the college computers though.**

**Poll update: the boy's names are neck and neck. Vote, vote vote! There can only be one. And you don't want_ me_ to have the final decision, do you? What's the point in opening to you guys if I have to decide anyway?!**

**I'll update as often as I can, I promise. **


	12. Getting Equipped

"Are you alright Thor? You seem a little... tense lately."

Jane and Thor were separated by a cot, each with a hand on the rail as they slowly walked the length of it. Thor continued to examine it in detail, while Jane watched him carefully over the furniture.

She couldn't put it off any longer, her frown creeping into her features. Something was bothering Thor. And she didn't know what it was. But it was impossible to miss; for the last few weeks that warrior had been noticeably subdued, lost in his own head of thought. At first, Jane hadn't thought anything of it… but then it got worse and worse, and it was starting to worry her. She wanted him to talk to her again.

Her hand rested on the crown of her stomach as she paused at the cot's end and Thor could no longer use the structure as an excuse not to look at her. He'd been avoiding her a lot lately. More time in the gym and less in the bedroom saw to that.

Finally he lifted his gaze – almost guiltily - to hers, and Jane could read the gentle pain in his bright blue eyes. Her heart sank.

His mouth opened, though it was a few moments before the god found the words he was looking for. In that time, his gaze had found a particularly interesting section across the baby store.

"I'm sorry, Jane." He said quietly. It sounded like he wanted to say more, his mouth hovering open. Then he closed it abruptly and stepped forward to inspect the next cot.

Jane stepped with him, hand catching his wrist before he could wedge the furniture between them again. She eased herself closer, spare hand on her belly. He tried to catch his gaze, but Thor wasn't having it. "It's nothing you need to apologize for, Thor. You just look upset."

The god snapped his eyes back to hers, a sudden blazing look in them. Not an angry one thought, just… defiant. Jane was just glad to see some sort of life from him!

"Not upset." He insisted firmly, his voice strong and firm. "I'm not upset, I am merely troubled. I could never be upset when you or the children are concerned."

Jane tipped her head to the side. "You're still nervous about being a father? I thought we talked about it."

She'd assumed their little – albeit, brief – chat a few weeks ago had cleared that up. She hoped she'd been simply wrong. At twenty eight weeks, if he was starting to have doubts about having these children… Thor wasn't like that, she told herself firmly. He wanted these children. He was just anxious. He'd told her. Perhaps it was still playing on his mind, even after all this time.

Jane had taken a breath regarding her own worries. The scientist inside her hyperventilated whenever her thoughts strayed to the future, all those out of control factors she couldn't anticipate simply killing her! She'd accepted she'd have to take the 'take it as it comes' approach with motherhood. There was no research study or book in the world that could tell her what to do and ease her worries, and she had no mother of her own to refer to. She'd decided she'd just take things one step at a time and hope for the best.

It was something her consciousness was struggling to get to grips with.

"It is not me I'm worried about." Thor corrected in a dark voice, eyes solid. "I'm anxious, yes, but it is not I nor the babies that trouble me. It is you."

Jane's frown flew back into place. She hadn't expected that! "Me?"

What could he have to worry about her for? She was doing fine. With a small army of helpers around her, she was hardly left anything to do to have to worry about anyway. Most of her days were spent curled up in her lab or in the sitting room watching TV with Darcy.

Thor sighed, as if exasperated she was not concerned about herself in the same way he was. "I am anxious about what will happen for the birth." He finally revealed, settling his eyes back on her. Jane still wore an innocently confused expression. She didn't understand. "You are mortal, Jane." He tried to frame his worries. "It would be dangerous enough if you were having merely one Asgardian baby, but two…" he breathed out heavily, rolling his eyes to the side. His hand ran through his hair. "I am afraid for you."

Jane fought the urge to 'aww' aloud, pressing her lips together as she cooed silently in her head instead. Her fingers ran down his wrist to interlock with his. "Birth hurts whatever the baby's race Thor." She tried to reassure. "Your mother said it wouldn't be any different to normal delivery, even if they are half god."

"But what if it is?" his bright orbs shot back urgently to hers, deep with focus. "What if something unpredicted occurs?" His hand gripped hers back hard. "I don't want to see you in pain, Jane. Not for anything."

She blinked back at him calmly. "Then you're going to be disappointed, Thor. It's going to hurt, whatever happens."

"This world has many resources for pain relief though, does it not? I will ensure the hospital provides anything you need when the time comes."

Jane caught her lip guiltily between her teeth. "Yeah…about that." She took a breath, trying not to let Thor's suspicious frown throw her off. She'd made up her mind and she was going to stick with it: "I'm not giving birth in the hospital."

For a moment, all Thor did was stare at her, his jaw slack. Had he really just heard that? The apologetic look on Jane's face told him he had.

"I want a home birth." She explained. "If we have more children after the twins we'll have them in Asgard and there's no pain relief there, right? I'd rather prepare myself for that. And wouldn't it be so much nicer for them to be born in the house rather than the hospital. You said you didn't like the hospital anyway!"

Thor's hand had abandoned hers long ago to run down his face. "Whether I like it or not it is the safest place for you." He fired back, settling his gaze back on Jane. "What part of 'high risk' did you not understand, Jane?"

"Your mother said I was doing fine and that it was likely I'd have a normal delivery."

Thor still didn't look happy.

Jane's eyes rolled to the ceiling. "She's the goddess of childbirth, Thor. I trust her on this like I trust you with the storms. She knows what she's talking about."

Thor jaw was tense but he said nothing, averting his eyes. Jane could see him processing it. She knew it was what he'd want too were it not for the no pain relief thing, even if he wouldn't admit it himself. He wanted homely and natural just as much as she, only he valued her comfort a lot more than she did. She tried not to think about the pain bit. It only terrified her when she did. _No_, she always scolded herself, _Thor gave his life for me and my planet. The least I can do is endure a couple of hours of pain to give him two babies._ She had to be brave about this. To give him his family.

She reached out her hand again and this time touched it to his shoulder. Her eyes were shimmering by now, needing him to support her on this. She couldn't face it on her own.

"Thor," her voice was paper soft, and the god teased his gaze back to her, unable to resist. She gave him a small smile. "I want this. Please."

When Thor's fingers started to trail up to hers Jane half thought he was going to just shrug her off. Even with that glistening look in his eyes. The one that was deathly afraid for her. He gulped hard, and Jane breathed a sigh of relief when he gathered her fingers up in his and held them to his lips. He kissed them firmly.

"I'll not leave your side." He vowed against her skin, eyes penetrating through hers. "If this is what you truly want, then so be it. But I'll not leave you to suffer it alone."

Jane's eyes fluttered shut in absolute relief, and she fought the urge to cry. She a keen mixture of happy, excited and petrified. Thor sensed it and stepped forward, enveloping his woman in his arms. He pressed his lips to the side of her neck.

"It will be okay." He soothed, Jane letting out a shuddering breath against him. "You are right. My mother is a wise woman. She would not suggest it if she was not certain." He peeled back and cupped Jane's cheek in his hand. He was aware that some of the other shoppers were staring at them, but he didn't care, locking his gaze with Jane's. His thumb stroked her cheek. "Shall we carry on shopping, or would you like to go home?"

Jane sucked in a steadying breath. "Stay." She said without hesitation. "We can't fob this off any longer Thor. They need too much stuff."

The nursery may be painted and floored, but it had a crucial flaw – it was empty.

Jane pulled back from Thor and they both examined the list they had drawn up before they left. So far, they had bought nothing.

Focussing, they waved through the cots, choosing two plain white ones and reserving to have Loki (who, they'd discovered had a very artistic streak) decorate them accordingly for the boy and the girl. He'd later trailed subtle, sweet swirls above and below the handprints of the nursery in a form of border, and Jane had fell in love with them. The swirls he'd done were simply divine. If he could carve them into the wood and paint in the allotted colours, Jane imagined it'd look perfect. She made a mental note to recruit Frigga and Odin for their cute flowers and hammers, that they'd later painted in pink and blue for the nursery, too.

"You want to be there then?" Jane later asked, as they weaved through the prams and strollers. "It's going to be messy."

Thor looked unperturbed. His face had been significantly more relaxed since he'd spilled his concerns to her. Jane was sure though, that fresh ones regarding the risks of home births would soon take their place. "And painful." He murmured, hand stroking the handles of one double stroller. Jane thought it looked ugly. "I'll not abandon you to that alone, no matter how uncustomary it may be."

Jane pressed her lips together happily and subtly inched to the single stroller she'd had her eye on. Thor followed and inspected it. "Is there anyone else you want there?"

"What about you? You're the one giving birth." he murmured, eyes scouring the structure. "This only has one seat."

Jane waved a dismissive hand. "We could get two and walk them together. I don't like the double ones at all." She rolled her eyes from the stroller up to Thor's face as he straightened up with a shrug, taking two tickets. "I'm not sure. Your mother said to limit the stress I'd be exposed to."

"So no Darcy then?" Thor grinned over his shoulder, as they moved on to the next section.

Jane just smirked. She hooked up a basket in the crook of her elbow as they passed the bulky items into the more handheld section of the store. When Thor's back was turned, she snuck in a few dummies in.

She wasn't sure why she had to sneak. Babies were allowed dummies. She doubted Thor would even know what they were anyway.

"These items are necessary in this world?"

Jane glanced up from her dummy thoughts and saw Thor had led her to a shelf of baby bottles and beakers. He held one questioningly in his large hand, the small structure looking pitiful against his palm.

She stepped forward and took in from him gently, rolling it in her own hand thoughtfully. Her swollen chest tingled sensitively. "Not all women on Earth like to breast feed Thor." She explained as simply as she could. "So they give their babies formula milk in a bottle."

The god's frown was embedded deep. "But surely milk from the breast is more fitting?" he took the bottle back from her. It was like whoever won the debate would determine where the bottle ended up; back on the shelf or in the basket. "It is natural. I thought that was the angle we were planning on adopting for our children. You would have a home birth for its natural element but you would not feed your own babies from your own body?"

Jane snatched it back with a scowl. "I never said _I _didn't. Just that some women don't. It's good to have one just in case though."

"In case of what?" The god smirked questioningly. "It is not as if your supply will run out."

Jane pursed her lips and bagged the bottle and a spare before Thor could say something else teasing. She hadn't made her mind up on that aspect yet. At the moment, her chest so tender and sensitive, breast feeding – with two babies! – just seemed… daunting. A backup was a good idea.

Moving on to the clothes section, Thor was suddenly strangely subdued. A flickering worry that he was sinking back into his withdrawn state hit through Jane's mind, watching him slyly out of the corner of her eye as she tossed in the basket a few plain white baby grow suits. They'd be needed. It was basics.

Her mind was slightly eased when he spoke to her again. The worries had caught up with him: "Is there no form of pain relief we can offer you for a home birth?" he finally asked quietly, eyes studying the front of a bib.

Jane's hands paused in their plucking of socks. She gulped. "I'm not sure." She admitted. "There wouldn't be any injection stuff. Only breathing techniques and water I'd think." Her eyes glanced down from their thoughtful high and found Thor's already watching her. "It will be fine, Thor." She waved off dismissively. "Women have babies every day."

"Not my babies though." He growled back. "This is no light task Jane. You should not venture into this so carelessly."

"I'm not!" she protested, handing the basket over to Thor as it started to gain some weight. He may wear an irritated scowl, but he was still there at her beck and call. With two hands now free, Jane threw in pairs of hats, socks, sleep suits and blankets relentlessly. The basket was filling fast. "I'm just pointing out that this isn't some battle you go into with the fate of Asgard at hand, Thor. You can't plan everything. Relax. It will be fine." She wished she could take her own advice.

"I will _relax_," Jane could tell by the tone of his voice he would have quote-marked with his fingers had his spare hand not been occupied by a second basket he'd been forced to undertake. He was picking up Tony's sarcasm and habits more and more. "When you form a proper plan to lower the risks."

"I thought that was what we'd been doing." Jane replied over her shoulder, eyes running around the department to see if there was anything that caught her eye. Her eyes roamed back to Thor, hands resting at the small of her back. "We've established I'm having a home birth, zero pain relief, with you and your mother present and that I'm going to breast feed them when they're born as Your Lordship wants." Her arms stretched out to the side questioningly. "What more is there to plan?"

Thor's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do not mock my concern Jane."

"Then don't overreact."

Jane took a step, planning to just… go. She wanted a bit of space. Perhaps she should have left Thor to his brooding. All this nagging from him was getting on her nerves.

Her hand cupped the bottom of her belly as the twins began to squirm. She stopped in her tracks at the dully nudges to the inside of her womb. "And now they're up too." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Great."

Thor caught up with her in a matter of strides. Jane's instincts turned her to him instantly before she remembered she was supposed to be mad at him.

The god had already set the baskets down though, hands finding her sides to steady her. They prevented her escape. Jane let her head fall forward, breathing out a heavy breath to try and calm herself. Thor's anxiety and touchiness seemed to be infectious, though his had drained from his face like water. Perhaps he knew he'd pushed it too far.

"I'm sorry." He soothed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Let's go home. You're tired. We can buy bedding and a chest of draws another time."

Jane's hands hooked on his wrist as his palms cupped her cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to pull him away. "This shirt is painfully accurate." She muttered bitterly, running a free hand over the material covering her bump. The pale blue garment was interrupted on her stomach by a white thought bubble leading from her protruding belly button, with the words 'Kicking mum is fun.' in the centre.

Another dull twinge followed as if to accentuate her point.

Thor grinned, and retreated one of his large, warm hands to cup her stomach instead, feeling the nudges. He pressed another kiss to Jane's glum face.

"You're seven months pregnant, my love." He breathed against her cheek, fingers stroking her bump lovingly. "You're tired." He pecked a kiss to Jane's forehead. "The store will be here another day, Jane."

Her fingers slowly teased his from her bump and squeezed firmly; Thor knew he'd done the right thing.

He was forced to forsake his uptake of Jane's hand to carry the baskets to the pay for the items, but was pleased to see her perk up as she followed him there, casting various bits that caught her eye as they passed the various departments. She loaded the baskets up to his knuckles with packs of diapers.

"So we just need a chest of drawers," Jane started to list as they waited for their flat packed furniture to be collected for them. Thor had already put the numerous bags in the truck. "A car seat, toys, mattresses, sheets, rocking chairs … argh," she growled, fingers that had been counting her invisible list now curling dangerously. "Bath stuff. And more changing stuff. And safety stuff." Her disbelieving eyes rolled to Thor, round and gleaming. "Sweet baby Jesus, did we do anything today? We've barely made a dent in it!"

Thor merely chuckled and hooked the hefty flat packages under his arm as the attendant piled them on the counter, earning quite a few raised eye browed stares. He carried them effortlessly, following Jane out the door and loading them into the truck.

Jane slid into the back seat slowly with a groan, hand cupping under her massive bump. Thor had forbidden Jane from driving, and since he couldn't do it himself, Tony had been forced to supply them with a driver to take them around. Thor liked the arrangement more and more every day; it meant he could sit in the back with his woman, talking and hugging with her freely.

Today was no different, and Jane snuggled against his chest heavily. _She was probably exhausted_, he thought, smiling and running his fingers through her hair softly.

He was proved right when he caught Jane's eyes flutter shut against his chest. He chuckled lightly, causing her to bob on his body. He couldn't have her falling asleep yet though. "Jane." He eased gently, trying to draw her back into a listening state. "Jane, I have something for you."

A muffled grumble was his answer, but reluctantly, Jane peeled her eye open and glanced begrudgingly at his hand not stroking her hair.

Her gaze brightened instantly. Jane shot upright, eyes alert and eager once more. "Oh my God, Thor." Her hands reached out eagerly for his and Thor let her snap up his gift to her, grinning at the expression on her face. She beamed down at the massive bar of chocolate he'd handed to her. "I didn't see this when we packed."

"You're twenty eight weeks pregnant, Jane." Thor chuckled, looping his arm around her shoulders and drawing her against his chest again. She was already picking at the wrapping. "I think you have greater things on your mind than to watch the shopping."

"I love you so much." She crooned, though Thor wasn't sure if she was talking to him or the snack as her words were stifled by a large bite of chocolate.

Thor sat back and grinned triumphantly. He'd done well. For his little hiccup in the store, he knew Jane would have long forgotten it now. To her, he was probably an angel - he'd brought her chocolate! She'd been craving it for weeks, he knew, but she'd resisted. Her cravings were vicious and some nights she'd come to bed almost in tears for want of the sugar. Thor decided to take matters in his own hands and end her struggle. She was carrying his children, one of which would one day become King of Asgard; God knew the least she deserved was a bit of chocolate!

And he was keen to get in her good books before the birth happened. If they were running with this homebirth, no pain relief thing, Thor was sure she wouldn't be liking him for much longer.

He gulped.

* * *

**NOTE**

**Okay, as requested, here are the top three names for each.**

**For girls, the running is between Evangeline (which means good news), Astrid (fair and beautiful goddess) and Leia (meadow) - though these are not in the order of who's winning, I should point out.**

**Boys, Roan (little red one), Dustin (fighter) and Arik (rule with mercy)**

**I'll edit the poll to limit the choices, though votes via review fully count as well. The final result will be a combination of review sponsors and votes and whoever has the most overall will win. Simple. And I'm going to be a bit lenient and say that you can re-vote via review if you review a different chapter, but please limit it to one boy name and one girl name per submission please. Yay, you get to vote more than once! **

**If you haven't voted already... where the hell have you been?! You've only got four more chapters of mystery, then all will be revealed! :D**

**Lastly, many thanks to PhantomPhoenix for that suggestion. I wanna do it now! I'm not sure if it'll be included in this story, but if it isn't it will be linked and... God damn it, I'm really jazzed about the idea now! :D It shall be!**


	13. Breathe

Thor came home … and froze in the doorway of the sitting room. His key still hovered in his hand at the bizarre sight that met him.

"You're doing really well, Jane. Really well. Keep going."

The god frowned deeply as he took in Jane's unmistakable form lying on the floor, knees propped up and parted, though her black leggings protected her modesty. Frigga knelt at Jane's lower end, crooning encouragement.

What alarmed him most though was his brother at Jane's head, clutching her hand as they both puffed their cheeks with air in sharp rapid bursts.

It was simply … odd beyond measure. He watched for a few silent seconds as Loki and Jane rasped out quick, panting breaths, wondering if he truly wanted to know what was occurring in his house, half afraid of the answer. His conscience decided he must, if it involved Jane.

He slowly lowered his keys onto the kitchen counter, unable to tear himself away from the strange display in his sitting room. "What is going on here?" his voice came out more deep and suspicious than he'd intended.

He'd expected a fumbling, some sort of chaos as the figures in the sitting room rushed to right themselves more decently. His eyes stayed primed on Jane, waiting for the expected horror and shock to creep into her gaze at being discovered doing… whatever they were doing. The bright grin therefore surprised him. None of them moved, Loki's hand remaining entwined with Jane's (albeit looser now that their fake tension had lifted), and his mother stayed poised between his beloved's knees.

"You're back." Jane said brightly. Not phonily, or shamed, just… Thor was surprised how casual she sounded considering her compromising position. "How did the store go?"

Thor held up his occupied hand in answer, showing her the box he'd been sent to retrieve. Jane had wanted some sort of blow up exercise ball and Thor had been the one requested to go and buy it. Thor guessed she was preparing for after the birth. Women were always so conscious of their figures.

"Don't change the subject." He grumbled, brow still lowered in misgiving. "What were you doing?"

"We're practicing." Jane said simply, blinking up at him as if there was nothing wrong.

Thor didn't agree with her; everything about this made him uneasy. "Practicing for what?"

A playful roll of the eyes answered him first. "For birth." Jane clarified. "You're mother's teaching me about breathing techniques I can use during labour." She glanced down at the goddess in question and Frigga gave a helpful nod. "We thought it'd be good to get to grips with it before the actual event."

Thor tried to shed the apprehension that still clutched him. "Alright…" he murmured stiffly, setting the package down on the floor. "And Loki?"

He was not fond of the way his brother held his woman's hand, especially know he knew what they were mimicking. He knew neither his brother nor Jane would ever betray him in such a way but he could not fight the instinctual possessiveness that crept into his thinking, blinding his reason slightly. It was too intimate for his liking, and he eyed their interlocked hands jealously.

His brother read the warning in Thor's eyes and kept his gaze lucid and calm, loosening his hold on Jane's fingers to one nearly non-existent. "I am standing in your place." He explained delicately. "While you were out, they wanted a substitute."

"And now I am here." He said stiffly. His head accepted Loki's explanation, but his heart was not so quick to dismiss it.

"Then get over here and bring the ball with you."

Thor still looked rather moody as he took up the package again and obeyed Jane's order, striding forward in the most assertive way possible. Loki – wisely! - backed away and let Thor take his place, kneeling down at Jane's side and clasping her small hand in his.

She reached for the box instantly.

"This should be good." Her eyes shone like a child with a new toy, and she eased it back into Thor's palm again. She glanced up to his utterly bemused gaze. "It's a ball. Apparently it might help during labour."

"The key thing is that Jane should not be on her back while she delivers." His mother went on in way of explanation, her eyes soft and bright, understanding he was struggling to grasp what Jane tried to tell to him. Thor's brow stayed knotted. "She will progress faster if she's in a more upright position. If she's sitting or standing."

Thor tried to conjure an idea of what position that might include… but could summon nothing. He'd always just assumed a woman giving birth lying down was the natural option. Apparently not.

"Help me up."

Thor's hand firmed around Jane's and he effortlessly lifted her so she sat upright rather than lay down. She curled her legs beneath her immediately, hand flying to the bump of her stomach. Thor was amazed – in the most modest and delicate way he could possible phrase it – at the size she was growing to be. It was remarkable. She'd been such a small woman before and now…

"It's just true." She said, flittering her eyes back to him. A discontented look flashed on her face. "I have to give birth like an animal."

If the grumbling look on her face didn't break his stiff demeanor, her words did and Thor let out a booming laugh. Behind him, Loki chuckled. Thor felt rather bad about being so temperamental with him earlier. He turned to glance over his shoulder, meeting Loki's cool unperturbed gaze. Thor had to ease his conscience though, despite how understanding his brother may be. "Thank you for filling my absence."

A smile stretched on Loki's face. "You're welcome. I had only dropped in to see what form of shirt Jane wore today."

Thor turned back to his woman to see for himself; her shirt was black, with white lettering peeking through her fingers in yet another amusing slogan. Thor realized he hadn't stopped to see it so far today either. Another wave of guilt swept him.

It didn't outweigh the grin from the shirt's message though: _Give me a break. I'm creating life here._

Jane pulled a face as her hand rubbed over her stomach. "Geez, they don't quit, do they?" she moaned lightly, glancing down at her bump. Had Thor's eyes deceived him, or did he see a faint shifting little lump poking from the body of her belly? "They want out soon."

Thor tried not to be too alarmed by her word, glancing an anxious look down to his mother. "She's right Thor." She nodded, not easing his worries one bit. "Twins come early. They should be here within another 5 or 7 weeks."

The god's mouth ran dry.

That was all? He had little over a month – they both had little over a month – before their babies would come?! Then they would be parents. The thought both exhilarated and terrified him at the same time.

"Hence why we're having our own child birthing classes now before it's too late." Jane added, eyes glittering innocently as they flittered between Thor and his mother.

He was quick to spot the well hidden spark of fear behind it though. She was just as afraid as he was, he realized. Only she had the birthing bit to do. Thor couldn't even imagine what it was like for her. Growing another person inside of you … what could that possibly feel like? He tried not to think of how that person must be brought into the world, the though making him queasy. But he forced himself to, for Jane's sake. He couldn't help her in his ignorance.

He swallowed his fears hard and forced his concern for Jane once more to the forefront of his actions. "What can I do?" his voice sounded weak and rasping, but he didn't care.

All he knew about labour was that it would hurt. It would hurt his Jane. And yet he was thrown into inner conflict knowing that it was caused by his babies, ones he loved just as much as his beloved. He could neither condemn the pain, nor appraise it. He was stuck with indecision.

He was sure though, that it would be like no pain he'd ever experienced. He'd had plenty of flesh wounds, feeling his body burning from the gaps in his skin.

But what could it feel like when the pain was inside? Nothing that could be compressed or stitched up. Something Jane would have to endure tirelessly for hours with no form of reprieve in their humble home… Thor couldn't imagine it as anything less than maddening. At least with his wounds he could try and stem bleeding, hold tissue together – feel like he was actually doing something, knowing he was getting better. It kept his mind focused and determined, full of hope.

For Jane there would be no getting better. There would be worse and worse, and then abruptly over. The best he could assume was the thought of the joy they would know at the end was what sustained women through it all.

That did not mean he was excused of his supportive duty though. He would stay and help her however Jane saw fit when the time came.

"Don't leave me." Jane's eyes gleamed at him with a begging that was unnecessary, but tore at Thor's heartstrings when he saw it. She did not need to plead. He would always be there for her.

"The birth won't be twice as long with two babies." His mother said in that calm patient voice he was thankful for. Her eyes glittered with tranquility. "But it still won't be easy."

Neither one of them offered any resistance as Frigga leaned forward and pressed both of her hands to Jane's bump, gently feeling from top to bottom. Thor and Jane watched in silence as the woman worked, checking the wellbeing of their children.

"They're both still in the right position though, so that's good." The goddess finally said, straightening up. "It's unlikely they'll change now. They simply don't have the room to rotate. Everything should go fine." Her smile was bright and reassuring, but it couldn't quash every anxiety in Thor and Jane's mind. The attempt was much appreciated though.

Thor cleared his throat and tried to take charge of his emotions and fears that were rising with uncontrollable speed. He would not allow his feelings to control him.

"You should rest." He told Jane, squeezing her hand comfortingly. He tried to fill his eyes with a peace that matched that of his mothers. "Lying on the floor like that cannot be comfortable for you."

Jane couldn't deny that.

She didn't even need to say it as Thor rose to his feet, taking up both her hands in his and hauling her up gently. Hand under bump, Jane waddled under Thor's leadership to the couch, and the god dragged her down lightly onto his lap. She leaned her head against his chest, smiling happily; he knew she loved sitting in his lap. Thor had hoped it would remind her of the times before the turmoil of pregnancy, sitting on his lap something she'd done back in the early 'cute' stages of their relationship. Judging by her contented smile, it seemed to have worked.

She snuggled in close and Thor let his arms drape around his woman.

"Is Darcy out shopping again?" Jane asked casually, her head shifting slightly to angle at Loki, still knelt on the floor of the sitting room.

Loki smiled, but shook his head. "No, she's in her room. She has been getting ill the last few days. She's fine." He cut in quickly at Jane's brief flash of alarm. "She is still strong. She near knocked me out when I tried to check up on her this morning." He chuckled fondly, eyes distancing at the memory. "It is her pride that keeps her away though. She does not want to be seen in such a weakened state."

Thor tried to summon an image of Darcy ill… and it just didn't work. The woman surely couldn't be put down by anything? No wonder she was angry about it! Darcy the Unstoppable – stopped.

It seemed Jane was having a similar trail of thought as she processed: "She won't be down for long." She laughed. "She's too stubborn for that."

_Definitely_, Thor agreed in his head with a nod.

"She'd seemed fine when I last saw her." Jane went on in a more subdued tone. "A little more touchy than normal but other than that…"

Loki merely shrugged.

Thor took that to mean 'subject over' and turned his head front ways again. His gaze fell on the spot on the floor where Jane had been lying when he'd first walked in and his brow dropped in a frown. The reality of what she'd been preparing for suddenly crashed back into him.

"Thor, relax."

The god glanced down at hearing his name and instantly caught Jane's comforting brown eyes watching him, suddenly feeling the light pressure of her hand squeezing his over her bump. He knew she could probably read his mind. She knew him to well. He surrendered himself to a heavy sigh and let his woman's warm gaze draw him in, setting his head down on her shoulder. She leaned into the embrace.

Thor's eyes stayed open and alert, though he let his form relax beside Jane's as she ordered, careful not to lean on her one bit. He felt her body twist slightly, and moments later her fingers laced tenderly through his hair.

Her shoulder's lifted with every slightly laboured breath. "Breathe, Thor." She soothed in his ear.

_I wish I could_, Thor replied silently in his head. He wanted to relax, to cast his mind free of what troubled him… but he simply couldn't. How could he relax when in less than two months he'd be the father to not one but two babies! It was an impossible feat and a part of him wanted to laugh at Jane for asking it of him.

He'd indulge her the best he could though. He sucked in a breath and surprised himself at the way his lungs hungrily clawed for the air, forcing his chest to swell as the breath deepened more than he'd intended. Had he been holding his breath by accident before? Oops.

Perhaps he needed Jane's guidance more than he thought.

He was half amazed this was happening: the great God of Thunder reduced to a worrying wreck all thanks to two little babies that weren't even born yet. The thought simply astounded him.

Then shame started to kick into his system. He was a warrior! Warriors did not sit and spend their time thinking of infants. He ought to be in the gym, training, building his strength.

The light weight of the woman on his lap quickly brought him back to his senses. His thoughts ran back to Loki and how he'd been there for Jane when Thor had first come home earlier. Behind his flare of emotions had there been perhaps a touch of jealously?

What if she'd really been giving birth and Thor had missed it because he was out training? Because he was out with the guys having a good time?

Thor knew he'd never forgive himself.

He lifted his head off Jane's shoulder and stared into her calming pools of brown eyes. How she managed such a peace, Thor didn't know, tearing himself apart inside with anxiety. That, he was now resolved to believe, was a good sign. He wanted to be worried. He wanted to be anxious; at least it showed he cared.

Sure he wanted his children to think he was a hero, but what sort of hero would he be to them or himself if he let Jane alone in her time of need to fulfill his own pursuits. He would not forsake his family. If he wanted to be a good father, the first step was to be there in the first place. His arms tightened firmly around Jane as he reestablished control of himself: he would be here forever.

His family was more important than his pride. Any day; "Tell me more of these breathing techniques you spoke of."

**NOTE**

**See where this is leading people? Brownie points if you do. I don't want to give it away by just saying it (even though it's kind of clawing at me inside!) but perhaps you can figure out yourselves what sort of story will be following up after this one is finished, eh? ;) **

**Hint: a certain Miss Lewis may be involved. **

**And, as someone asked, I get the shirt ideas through – drum roll please! – google search engine! That's right guys. Google images. That's my secret xD Just type in 'maternity shirts funny slogans' and bam! a bunch of incredible shirt ideas are there at my disposal. **

**And THANK YOU Ryogun! I have spent hours researching this stuff to make sure my info is correct and realistic! The fact that someone acknowledged this really made me feel like my efforts were worth while.**

**And the name race is on! Three more chapters to vote guys!**


	14. Baby Shower

Jane was suspicious to say the least.

Her eyes followed the god warily as she closed the front door behind them both, sealing them back inside the warm house. They'd just been out to dinner. Dinner. She knew Thor was trying to treat her lately – but dinner?! Surely, something was up.

The mysterious, cheeky grin that Thor had worn all night only served to fuel her suspicions further. He turned in the hallway, arms bracing casually against either wall as he poised in the middle of the corridor. His muscular form was dressed in a smart suit, the top buttons of his crisp white shirt now undone and his tie loose around his neck. His luscious blond hair had been combed back, but now stray strands flopped into his bright blue eyes adorably as he smiled at her. God, he looked gorgeous!

Jane's hand hovered consciously over her bump, feeing the feather light material of the floaty dress she wore. "What?" she asked with a shy smile, watching Thor's eyes scour over her.

They lifted to her face lovingly.

His arms dropped from the walls, and Jane found herself grinning as Thor strode forward with lazy swaggering steps and wrapped them around her, drawing her in close. A light blush pricked at her cheeks.

The smile settled firmly on Thor's face as he gazed down at her dotingly. "You look beautiful tonight, Jane." He breathed softly, blue eyes simply glowing with adoration.

Jane grinned and relaxed into the embrace. Her heart melted in her chest at his butter-soft tone and the words it sung, but her mind was less easy to deceive: "You're up to something, mister." She murmured playfully as he pecked a tender kiss to her cheek.

Thor smirked mischievously and merely shrugged. "If I am, you'll thank me for it later."

Jane's lips pressed together, and she let Thor's seductive voice draw her in for once. She lost herself in his alluring pools of blue as his fingers slyly laced with hers and he stepped back, easing her with him.

Her head tipped dreamily to the side, letting him lead her through the house with a boyish look on his face she simply loved. Her heart started to ease slightly; if it was something bad he'd been dining with her to get away from, he wouldn't be smiling like that. Would he? _No_, she thought, smiling and laughing to break the silence as Thor led her though the sitting room to the back door.

The curtains were closed, Jane's keen eye spotting how they were subtly tied to the handle of the open back door. She started to get curious again.

Thor's eyes shone with excitement as he took up his place by the open back door, barring the cool, crisp air that drafted the house. Jane caned her neck to see around him; all she caught was a slither of the low light of dusk, beautiful against the landscape, though the closed over curtain hid most of the view through the sliding glass doors.

The god released one of her hands to lean it against the door. His eyes rolled out to stare through the gap of the door and Jane tried to peer around him to see what he was looking at, but his hulking frame filled the doorway too fully to let her peek.

He didn't deny her for long though; his hand pushed firmly at the door, sliding it open. The curtain slid with it, exposing their vast back land to Jane at last.

Her jaw dropped.

A sea of smiling faces greeted her with the light rush of the chilled air outside, and Jane grinned. Their friends and family were all sat in chairs, camped around a small mountain of pink and blue wrapped gifts. A table laden with sweet iced cupcakes was behind them all, a banner propped up overhead: _Happy Baby Shower!,_ it read. Odin and Frigga's unmistakable pink flower and blue hammer graced either side of the words.

Thor's warm hands cupped Jane's shoulders gently as he draped his jacket over them, leaning his mouth by her ear. "Happy baby shower, Jane."

Jane forgot how to walk as Thor eased her forward. "You… you did this for me?" Jane was grinning ear to ear, glancing back over her shoulder at her god as she stepped numbly out of the house. Dinner hadn't been a make-up at all, she realized – It had been a distraction. An excuse to get Jane out of the house while Thor planned this for their return.

"With Lady Pepper's aid." Thor conceded sweetly, casting a polite nod to Pepper. "She informed me it was a Midgardian tradition."

Pepper Potts smiled back at him, her hand covering Tony's on the arm of his chair. The pair was at the center of the party, Darcy and Loki to their left, and Odin and Frigga beside them. On the right hand of the genius and the organizer sat Bruce and Steve, then Natasha, Clint and Erik, two empty seats, which Thor was now leading Jane to, completing the circle.

She lowered herself into it slowly and heavily. "Wow," she gasped, ogling at the vast amount of presents that awaited them. "Guys, you really didn't…"

"Of course we did, Jane." Erik grinned from beside her.

"Yeah, Grandparents United wanted to make a big deal of their first grand kids." Tony cheered a little more enthusiastically than was per normal. A sloppy grin was plastered on his face, and Pepper's hand had to move to his shoulder to tug him back as he leaned ridiculously forward. Then Jane caught the bottle in his raised hand and understood perfectly.

_Ah_, she thought. So Tony had been bribed with booze, it seemed. Looking around she started to notice the bottles in the hands of the other men too, though they looked like they were pacing themselves better than the billionaire was, calm, sober expressions on their faces.

Jane's eyes rolled over Darcy, her and Loki's chairs pressed close enough for the god to have his arm stretched over Darcy's shoulders. She was curled up in her own chair, legs folded conservatively underneath her body. Jane noted how she looked a tad paler than she ought to. Perhaps her recent illness hadn't shed as much as she'd have liked it.

"Feeling better, Darce?" Jane asked softy as their two gazes linked. She could see the thoughts weighing down behind Darcy's eyes, but it was quickly shoved aside when Darcy realized she was being noticed.

A smirk spread on her face, wiping her expression flawlessly clear. "Just awesome." She assured, a healthy brightness pricking her orbs.

Jane forced herself to believe it as Loki chuckled and reached behind them to fetch a cupcake, gently edging it in Darcy's hands. She let herself enjoy the picture for a moment. Loki must be having the time of his life; Darcy wasn't usually the snuggling type. Whatever was wrong with her must have fuddled with her brain slightly.

"Before we begin," Thor's deep soft voice drew her from her thoughts. "We have more news to share."

Thor's announcement momentarily caught Jane by surprise and she shot her eyes to her boyfriend; the knowing look in his bright gaze soon reminded her of what he was talking about though. They'd had a little discussion over dinner.

Her eyes shifted to Darcy and Loki again. Her eyes flashed to life as she realized she was being watched again, feeling targeted, cupcake pausing in its travel to her mouth. "What?"

A grin stretched over Jane's lips and she felt her hand get engulfed in Thor's large one. She squeezed it back. "We want you and Loki to be godparents." She finally sighed, watching the two very different reactions erupt on the couple's faces.

Loki sparked up instantly; his eyes held a shine that reminded Jane of Thor's when he'd first found out he was going to be a father and it reaffirmed in her heart that they'd made the right choice. Darcy herself looked … stunned. Her jaw dropped, cupcake tumbling to the floor in a burst of crumbs and icing. Jane laughed at it as Thor did, the stunned expression on their friend just priceless!

"Me?" Darcy's spluttered, the little remaining colour in her face slipping away smoothly. "I can understand him," she lightly knocked Loki's ribs in indication. "But me?!"

That had been exactly Jane's reaction when Thor had first suggested the idea. They'd expected Darcy to be… well, she wasn't the obvious choice, was she? Or maybe she was. She was Jane's best friend after all and there was no one she would trust more with her babies if something happened to her and Thor. But Darcy wasn't the blatant maternal type, they knew…

"We would be honoured." Loki beamed for them both, Darcy looking too dumbfounded to speak for herself any more. "Then perhaps this gift is one of appreciation as well as pure good will." He added as he reached forward and picked up a blue striped bag from amongst the pile, handing it over to his brother. "Darcy's responsible for the shirt."

Jane caught Darcy's elbow in Loki's ribs as Thor put the bag in her lap, handing over unwrapping rights to her. She grinned like an eager child.

"No!" Darcy suddenly leapt forward from her chair as she noticed where the present had gone, and snatched the bag from on top of Jane's thighs. Raised eye brows and startled expressions met her, but she merely scowled and tossed the bag back to Thor instead. "It's for Thor, not you." She mumbled in explanation, slumping back down in her chair.

_Even better_, Jane thought, grin spreading afresh at the anxious frowning look that flittered over her boyfriend's face as he glanced down to the bag. She'd be nervous too! Everyone seemed to lean forward a touch as Thor tentatively picked the white material free of the bag and coloured tissue paper within. He held it by the shoulders as he examined the front, and Jane covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed at the cover.

Black letters covered the chest, black tadpole like shapes that were _so not_ tadpoles swimming beneath them – _Daddy's Little Squirt_. Darcy had done her editing though: an 's' was scrawled on the end in black marker. Appropriate for twins, Jane thought with a grin.

Across the pile, Darcy shot the god a patronizing thumbs up, his bemused expression revealed as he lowered the gift.

"And just so you don't feel left out, Jane, I got you an extra shirt too." Tony suddenly leapt at the opportunity, plucking his gift from the heap and tossing it to her. Her fingers started to rip at the paper. "Call it a baby shower slash initiation process gift. You're more than worthy of Avenger's status in my opinion."

Jane tried to brush off the fringes of suspicion, Tony's tone sounding like the one of someone buttering her up to get something from her. Or maybe he was just making more effort to get more beer from Pepper. There were a noticeable number of discarded bottles littered around his chair. Jane found she wasn't all that bothered either way as she examined the front of her new shirt and the 'I can grow people. What's your superpower?' slogan that spayed it. She grinned shamelessly.

She caught Tony's bright eye over the garment as she lowered it, and the mischievous smile on the genius's face. He looked pretty proud of himself.

"Check out what the Captain got next." He urged, settling closer to Pepper. "And they say I'm obnoxious…"

Steve dug out the appropriate bag and handed it over to Jane with a sheepish grin on his face. "I wanted it to be something personal." He shrugged.

A few seconds later, Jane and Thor were laughing ludicrously at the two matching baby grow suits they held in their hands, each one completely composed of the pattern of the flag of the United States of America. Little matching hats of an identical pattern were included too.

Other gifts were less ostentatious; they got a child's book of Norse mythology from Erik (Thor spending way too much time eagerly reading what it said about himself), wooden carved toys and woven articles of material from Odin and Frigga, a teddy bear from Bruce that was a notable green shade in complexion… various other practical gifts littered the bulk of the presents but Jane and Thor valued the more sentimental ones more. Though Jane had to admit, she was somewhat relieved by the security stuff the two spies had gathered, in the form of stair gates and secure window latches and other things Jane hadn't even thought about needing!

"And I've got the best present yet, big guy." Tony said, leaning back to reach something he'd stashed behind his chair. Thor watched him eagerly.

Jane laughed when the genius pulled out a six pack of beer.

"This is your salvation." Tony tossed the six pack over to Thor, who caught it effortlessly, in the casual way only superheroes could. "Frankly, I'm astounded you've managed to last this long without alcohol, but when the sprogs pop out and the rules are made redundant …" his eyebrows lifted suggestively, finishing his sentence for him.

A smirk stretched on Thor's lips, though he glanced to Jane anxiously. She could read the questioning in his eyes.

"It's okay, Thor." She laughed. "You're gonna need the outlet."

"Speaking of…" Pepper leaned forward, drawing attention back to her and Stark again. Her fingers plucked out a leaflet from amongst the gifts, something Jane never would have spotted on her own. Pepper held it up with a mischievous grin.

For a moment, Jane just let it sink in, eyes scanning over the words. Then the smile started to blossom. "Oh Pepper, you're an angel!"

The spa leaflet glittered like gold in Jane's eyes just the thought of relaxing, getting a massage, not being pregnant anymore… her eyes fluttered upwards in bliss. She didn't so much as notice Thor's arm settle around her shoulders, easing her into his warmth. She appreciated it though, the chilled November air biting her skin though Thor's jacket.

Then the god leaned forward and picked out a random box that puzzled him, catching his attention. "What is this device?" he frowned, turning the small package over in his hand.

Jane took it from him gently and peeled her fingers through the wrapping paper, glazing her eyes over the labeling beneath. A small smile pricked on her face, the way it always did at Thor's adorable naivety. "It's baby monitor, Thor." She chuckled, snuggling against his arm fondly. God, he was so sweet. How even the simplest thing baffled him.

"We got two." Bruce said with a coy grin, nudging Steve fondly in the ribs. "Steve didn't know what it was either."

Steve's eye sparkled modestly, nodding. "Someone had to explain to me."

"Then may someone explain it to me next?" Thor's frown stayed lightly in place, gaze flickering down to Jane for help.

She handed him back the box to examine at his leisure. "A baby monitor." She began. "They come in pairs and you put one near the baby and keep one with you. When the baby cries, the sound travels through their monitor and into yours so you can keep an eye on them without being in the same room. They work kind of like a telephone, okay?"

Thor nodded slowly, as did all the other Asgardians that had been listening avidly to the description of the foreign Earth device. He set the box down, and affirmed his arm around his woman. "I understand." He said deeply, leaning back in his seat casually.

Darcy saw past the façade effortlessly: "Liar." She grinned, wearing the most sincere smile Jane had ever seen on the woman!

Thor's eyes were sparkling as he chuckled. "Alright," he conceded playfully. It was common knowledge that nearly all technology escaped him. "Although, I am sure we will not need these devices to hear the wails of our young ones if they are truly our children."

Jane's eyebrows lifted, peeling away from his arm to glance up into his face. "I don't know what you're implying, Thor Odinson."

He smirked down at her teasingly. "What I am _implying_ Jane Foster," he said, resetting his arm around her to draw her close. Her hand rested on his chest, holding herself back just far enough to watch his expression tantalize her. "Is that you have a mighty set of lungs on you, my dear."

"That's not true!"

"It so is!" Darcy chipped it with a cackle, circling with glee in Loki's arms. She seemed to have really perked up from before. The sugar must have done her good. "You can really scream when you want to."

Jane frowned warily, _very_ compromising screaming-situations streaming to mind. "… care to clarify that?"

Erik drew the limelight away from Darcy's glinting smirk with a chuckle. "Oh please, Jane. We've all heard you throw him out at ungodly hours of the night at some point or another!" His hand waved at the god beside her and she translated in her head: _he_ meant Thor.

_Ah_, she thought, reminiscing on the rows triggered by her touchy pregnancy symptoms months ago. And how they ended in Thor's chilly, outdoor demise. _Fair enough_, she shrugged. She probably had been loud enough to wake the house then, even if she didn't want to admit it! She was just relieved it hadn't been … _something else_ that they'd heard her yell through. She snuggled into Thor's bulky muscular arm to hide her blushing face.

Thor's hand palmed her cheek, easing her back into view. "Don't hide, Jane. I have to give you my gift yet."

Jane blinked up at him innocently, cheeks still pink. A smile played at her lips as she stared up into his bright blue orbs. "You've already given me two babies, Thor. What more do you want to give me?"

"A cake, for one." Darcy cut in, lifting the small double candled cake from the table behind her. The candles were already lit, one pink, one blue, dug into the white frosted icing. A cream ribbon an around the base, Jane's name etched in thin icing on the top, in alternating pink and blue letters.

Thor laughed and took the cake from Darcy, letting Jane's eyes marvel over its pretty form admiringly. He moved it away though. He set it down on the ground, not missing for a second how Jane's neck craned to see it again. Thor smirked – especially as his fingers closed around his gift, propped up against the leg of his chair. A knowing grin spread on his face. He straightened up in his seat, bringing his gift up with him.

He kept it out of Jane's sight, arm hanging over the far side of his chair. His bright blue eyes linked with her chocolate brown ones teasingly. "This is my gift."

The book lifted into sight at last, cover front facing as the god slid it smoothly into Jane's lap, her curious eyes following it every step of the way. Thor watched eagerly as her gaze scoured over the front cover, her smile blossoming beautifully as she read the title in gold letters: _Twins Baby Book_. The book was large, square and relatively heavy, the burgundy cover binding the pages thick and sturdy.

"What is this?" Jane breathed, finger gently peeling the cover open to answer herself.

Thor couldn't resist saying it himself though, beaming proudly. "It is a collection dedicated to you whilst carrying the twins. Of course, it is not yet finished, but… it is something I have been working on since we discovered you were pregnant."

He watched her loving brown eyes scour over the pages, the first few filled with photographs. Then her frown started to dip; "When did you take these?"

The pictures showed Jane on her side, spanning from her rib cage to her hips, each page titled with however many weeks pregnant she had been. Only Jane didn't remember taking any photographs. In each one her shirt was rolled up from her stomach, exposing the flesh that started to bloom page by page.

Thor blushed sheepishly. "I took them while you slept." He confessed. "It was the only way I could without spoiling the surprise."

He waited tensely in case Jane would not be satisfied with his answer, but the thought seemed driven from her mind as she turned the page past her seventeenth week and was met with the grainy ultrasound picture, stuck down onto the page. Her eyes brightened with her smile. "You did all this?" she breathed softly, flicking hurriedly through a bunch of pages at once, finding the more filled out ultrasound picture from her third trimester.

She looked up at Thor after the blank pages started to run into view, titles still naming the top of them. Her face just looked… happy. Absolutely, and incredibly happy.

Thor grinned. "There is still work to be done." He pointed out indicating the following pages that had yet to be filled with pictures of her belly in the final month of her pregnancy. Then he turned on to the page he was looking forward to filling the most. It was entitled 'Our Babies'.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what sort of picture he planned to fill there. Jane could just imagine it already, the two perfect, tiny babies: freshly made, pink and in their arms at last.

Her hand reached out for Thor's and squeezed his fingers tightly, leaving the book open on the page that was making Jane's heart burst with maternal emotions.

"I wanted to preserve every moment with them." The god breathed beside her, letting her shoulder ease against his body. His arm looped around her and held her there, both staring down dreamily at the book.

"It's wonderful, Thor." Jane beamed on, unable to find the will to put the book down, even though there was nothing new left to see. Her finger tapped at the word 'babies' on the page. "We need to pick out some names. We can't call them 'the babies' forever."

"I thought of that also."

Jane's eyes tore from the book at last as she found herself without Thor's arm around her shoulders, the god leaning forward to pick something from the pile of gifts. Jane just stared; how did any of them find anything amongst all that?! She'd given up long ago. Her eyes followed Thor's hand though, and the slim book he brought back with him. This one looked light and small, very different to the hulking thing in her lap.

She was even able to catch it as Thor lightly tossed it her way. Her fingers righted it and she read the front. Her eyes flickered to Thor, smiling. "Is there anything you haven't thought of?" she grinned playfully as she lowered the Norse Baby Names book.

Thor beamed, leaning back in his chair with a very pleased look on his face. Jane guessed he'd deserved it. How in the world had she managed to bag the most thoughtful, sensitive, caring guy in the whole universe? It was mind-blowing.

Finally, Thor's head bowed slightly, though he retained his grin. "I must confess." He finally conceded with a twinkling eye. "The naming book was Darcy's idea."

Jane turned her grin to her friend across the circle, who'd folded her arms across her chest defensively as everyone turned to look at her. "What?" she finally blurted, gaze flittering around to level the stares. "I didn't want my unofficial niece and nephew to have dumb names, okay! And I didn't trust this guy to do it properly on his own." she justified with a vague wave in Thor's direction. "At least with a book, Jane can limit the damage."

Jane's eyebrows lifted disbelievingly, playful smirk firmly in place. "You're getting soft, Darce."

"Yeah, yeah." Darcy's eyes rolled dismissively. "Can I have some cake now?"

**NOTE**

**There was something I was going to say but… I've forgotten what it was :P**

**Oh yeah! As most of you smart people have figured out I want to do a Darcy baby –fic after this one. Just little details tugging me down at the moment. Like a title. More baby ideas. The polls will return! Mark my words!**


	15. Almost There

"Where the hell are they?"

Thor chuckled lightly as he roamed casually around the bed, Jane perched up on the mattress leaning back against the headboard. Her hands and glum (though slightly irritated) eyes were fixed down on her belly.

"You can hardly rush them, love." He smiled at her as he smoothed out the sheets. He picked up a thick blanket from the foot and unfolded it, leaning forward to drape it over Jane's shoulders. She lifted her back off the headboard helpfully and her hands left her bump to hold it tightly around her. Thor kept his hands on her upper arms and leaned forward to press a chaste kiss on her forehead. "They will come soon."

Jane was almost pouting as Thor straightened up and pulled away. He knew he was warm – hell, he was always warm! And with the quickly dropping winter temperatures outside, Jane needed warm.

"At this rate they won't get here till Christmas." She mumbled, huddling the blanket around her so it shrouded her bump from view.

"You are thirty eight weeks." Thor eased as he tore off his own shirt for bed. Jane had only got as far as removing her leggings before she'd given in to this pondering, still clad in her underwear and shirt. If that was what she was comfortable in… "Babies are often late."

Jane sighed. "I know but…" her glistening eyes lifted up to his. "I just don't want anything to go wrong. I want them here."

"They'll come in their own time." Thor reassured, striding around the bed to Jane's side so he could reach her more easily than before. He perched down on the edge of the mattress, cradling her cheek in his palm. "They must be like their father. They like a dramatic entrance."

Jane groaned and dropped her cheek even heavier into his palm. "Don't say that. Please don't say they're going to make this difficult for me."

Thor laughed heartily, though he understood the severity behind her remarks. "They are most definitely our children, Jane. They don't play by the rules, as neither of us do."

A smirk crept into Jane's expression as she lifted her gaze to his. She tipped her chin high as she straightened her spine, folding her arms superiorly over her blanketed chest. "Speak for yourself, mister. You're the only hell raiser here, not me. I'm perfectly capable of doing as I'm told."

Thor arched a sceptical eyebrow. "Who was it that aided me to Mjolnir's crash site when we first met, against Erik's clear instruction?"

Jane's face scrunched and she waved a dismissing hand. "There should have been a 'when I want to' on the end of that sentence." She lately amended. "I can do as I'm told, when I want to."

"Mm-hm."

Thor halted his lover's response to his sarcastic tone with a firm kiss to her lips, still smirking as he held his mouth against hers. His hand instinctively found her belly, cupping the side of her stomach and feeling his children squirm beneath the skin. Jane was tense beneath his touch, fighting against his demanding kiss to speak. Thor wouldn't let her; for now, he just wanted a silent moment to appreciate how far they'd come together. All of them.

The book was filling out well. Thor was glad he'd laid out enough room for up to forty weeks of pregnancy (even though his mother assured him that was incredibly rare for a woman carrying multiples), but the closer they grew to the mark, the more anxious he got. They were already two weeks late. And like Jane, he was getting impatient to see his babies for real, longing to hold them in his hands. In a sense he was jealous of Jane - she'd gotten to carry them in her womb, experiencing them in ways deprived to him.

Finally, Jane started to relax into his embrace. He let his spare hand wind round to her back, holding her close as he kissed her softer, knowing she would comply.

Then his mind started to think. It had become an annoying habit: when he wasn't talking about the babies with Jane, he sure was thinking about them! Check listing was the main thought process. One by one, he ticked off the items they needed for their babies, constantly unsettled that they'd somehow managed to miss something vital.

Jane's hand cupped his cheek. "Thor," her voice was soft, but firm as she peeled her mouth away from his. Her eyes stayed half closed, still in kiss-mode. "Stop thinking, please." How the hell could she relax when he was so blatantly agitated!

He may not notice the way he stiffened, the way his muscles bunched tensely, betraying his inner anxieties – but Jane sure did! It did nothing to reassure her when he worried. His jaw was stiff under her palm, his bicep hard under her fingertips.

A heavy sigh left his lips and washed over her face. "Any day now." He breathed, teasing his eyes open as Jane did the same. They linked instantly.

His face tilted to ease into her palm, and Jane leaned forward, leaning her cheek against his chest. Through his warm dark shirt, she could hear the blood thumping through his strong muscles. She liked listening to his heartbeat. It was something strange about her, but the sound always made her feel safe, loved and wanted. It soothed her better than anything.

Thor's arms wrapped around her body and held her close to his chest, forcing her hands to relocate around to his back. Jane didn't mind. Thor's body straightened, pulling her with him till she was perched on the edge of the bed, cradled against his chest. Her hand palmed the muscles of his back shoulder, feeling the pumping organ of his heart almost lulling her to sleep. Her eyes fluttered shut, basking in the sound.

"You should rest." Thor breathed, Jane feeling her head move with his chest as the air left him. His hand started stroking lovingly through her hair.

Jane merely hummed in agreement, letting Thor ease her back into the pillows, unfurling her legs from beneath her. Her eyes stayed dreamily closed, but she groaned when she relaxed down into the sheets, the weight of her children heavy on the rest of her. She leaned to the side slightly.

It was no coincidence that side happened to be the one Thor slept on. She was left untouched for barely a second as Thor crossed to his side of the bed and reattached his hands, settling himself down in front of her. Jane could feel his face close to hers even if she couldn't see it, feeling the warm proximity of his mouth and breath. His nose nuzzled hers as he snuggled his body close to hers, palm (as always) cupping her bump.

"You're too sweet." Jane murmured sleepily, her fingers finding their way to Thor's chiseled torso, tracing his defined muscles through his shirt. "For a guy, you're incredible."

Thor chuckled, easing Jane closer and tucking her head under his chin. "I have had help, Jane. You should give Pepper and Darcy the credit they deserve." A part of him couldn't help glowing inside of him at the compliment though. His efforts had paid off.

"Still, you're making me feel bad." Jane crooned against his throat. "You do everything for me and all I do is sit around and get bigger." She snuggled firmer against his chest. "It's not fair."

Thor just smiled. How could he put into words how much she was doing for him by just existing? And now she was going to give him two babies, two tiny models of perfection they had created together… no, words weren't good enough. He let his eyes close from staring over the top of her head and felt Jane's exhaustion start to leak into him. Perhaps tomorrow, he thought. Or the day after. Their children would come any day now. They couldn't keep him and Jane waiting much longer, could they?

He felt Jane lean heavier against him and knew that she was in dire need of some sleep. It was something his mother said was quite normal. Jane seemed to sleep a lot for the last few weeks. Thor liked when she rested though; it was the only time her mind fully stopped racing. The blissful look on her face never failed to bring a grateful smile on his face that she had somehow chosen him to be her man.

"I'm fed up of being fat." She groaned lightly against him, peeling back to stare at him with her gleaming brown eyes.

Thor blinked his own blue orbs back to alertness and stared down at her sweet face. "A week." He reassured, as if somehow he could make it come true. "A week and we'll have our children in our arms, Jane."

He pecked a kiss to the tip of her nose, letting his arms solidify around her body. Jane's hand steadied at the side of his face, holding their eyes level. Thor let himself lose himself in her warm brown orbs, as she did his crystal blue ones. She wanted to clear her mind. Thoughts of longing to be able to wrap her arms around her waist again filled her head, dreaming of her small, slim frame she'd been so used to before she ballooned out. Her arms always felt strangely light and empty, as if they knew they should be bearing the weight of at least one baby by now.

Her thumb stroked over Thor's rough cheek, feeling the small hairs of his beard under the pad of her thumb.

She wondered what her babies would look like. Would they have her eyes or his? Would they have his blond hair or her brunette locks? Would they be brainy or brash? Would one child take after her and the other him? She didn't know. She half hoped they had his features. Such tiny creatures with golden halos of hair and eyes as bright and crisp as pools of water… truly, they would be angels. Her own personal angels.

Her spare had ventured over her belly, stroking over the noticeable lumps and bumps through the skin. They really had run out of room to grow now. Her eyes started to glaze with thought, dreaming of the little creatures within her womb.

Thor watched her, wondering what was walking through her mind. She told him: "Remember those old wives tales you used to believe in?" She asked him, warm brown orbs focusing on Thor. He nodded lightly, listening. "I hope the 'hard pregnancy, easy labour' one is right."

A smile started to form at Thor's lips, only growing as he saw the corners of Jane's mouth flicker too.

His grin was soon wiped clear.

Jane's face suddenly froze, and Thor felt her body stiffen beneath his touch, her muscles bunching. Thor's heart clenched with them. Jane's eyes stared blankly ahead over his shoulder, though Thor knew there was nothing there for her to be looking at. Was that a comfort, or not? No danger but – Thor gulped – what could give her an expression like that?

Was it just him, or did Jane's face look a tad paler than before? Her eyes slightly wider? More glistening? No one needed to confirm the words that left her numbly parted lips though – "Oh shit."

Thor gulped again, shifting to sit more upright beside her. Jane's hand moved to her belly and Thor clenched it hard.

Sitting up had pulled the blanket and sheet with him and as he fully straightened up by her hips, her problem was more than evident. A dark patch in the crotch of Jane's black pants seeped with moisture, creeping further north as the material soaked it up. For a second, Thor was reassured, thinking the babies must have just hit her bladder again.

Then he frowned: hadn't Jane taken measures to prevent this sort of situation? She wore pads every day to protect her pride from such an incident happening again. And he was certain there wouldn't be so great amounts of moisture anyway…

Her legs twitched and Thor could see the insides of her thighs glistening. Jane's spare hand moved to cup underneath her belly tightly, gripping Thor's hand with a crushing pressure as her body jerked and her face snapped back to life. Her jaw dropped in a silent gasp.

Thor felt it the same moment that she did: the muscles over her bump tightening unmistakably. They held in tense format, rippling with a strength that made Thor's heart race. This was no Braxton Hicks contraction. Jane's face scrunched and stayed that way as the contraction took hold. Thor just watched helplessly, unsure of what to do and unwilling to leave her side for a second. A quiet, but strained moan left Jane and her fingers gripped his so hard he was sure it must be hurting her.

Thor cursed the though quickly – he doubted Jane cared for aching fingers at that moment, drinking in the sight of her tense on the bed, stomach spasming powerfully.

Jane's punishing hold on his hand loosened as the muscles of her stomach suddenly relaxed, a gasping breath tearing from her lungs. Her chest heaved for breathing, coming out in deep gulping bursts. Her eyes shot open again, round and glistening.

They found Thor for help instantly, her lips uttering the words Thor had figured out for himself already: "I think my waters just broke."


	16. Birth

"Thor!"

The god was at Jane's side in seconds, gripping the hand that reached for him as firmly as he dared. He could feel his strength taking powerful hold, and it took everything in his to restrain it.

Jane's gleaming eyes, glistening with forming tears of pain were enough to remind him why he had to though. He knelt in front of her as Jane rocked against the exercise ball. Her sweaty fingers grasped his hard as her begging gaze pleaded to his desperately. It tore at Thor's heart – he'd never seen his Jane so helpless, so broken.

Her pain was written all over her face, not even her strong willpower enough to hold it at bay any longer. Her chin hovered over the curve of the ball and she started to sob.

Thor's hand found the side of her head and held her gently still as he planted a tender kiss to her forehead. "I'm here, Jane." He breathed as calmly as he could. "It's alright."

"It's not alright!" she wailed as another wave of contraction took hold of her, face bowing down and body swaying lightly with the ball as she rocked it back and forward, trying to ease through her pain.

She was on her knees, the exercise ball in front of her as she pressed her front against it. Her hands clawed at the top, arms wrapped around the sides as if she were hugging the thing for dear life. With the look on her face and the sounds he was hearing, it wasn't hard to believe.

"It really hurts, Thor." She whimpered as she was granted a moment of respite, eyes falling half closed with tiredness. "It really hurts. _Oh God…"_

Her face contorted with another contraction.

Thor's fingers combed smoothly through her sweaty locks for, pushing them back from her face. "I know, my love." He soothed, kissing her cheek firmly. "I know it hurts."

It burned him inside that Jane was in such distress and yet there was nothing he could do. This was a burden he could not share though. In any other situation he would take Jane's pain and anguish in a heartbeat to spare her, but in this…

A heavy breath left Jane's lungs as she was able to relax again, the side of her head leaning against the exercise ball.

"Just think." He soothed, hand cupping her cheek and thumb brushing away the tears that fell, trying to encourage her to keep her composure. Her lip quivered dangerously. "When this is over we shall have our children in our arms, Jane. We shall be parents before the sun rises."

Three hours had passed since Thor had hastily carried Jane down to the sitting room, rousing his mother from her bed as he went. Three long, painful hours, and all they had so far to show for it was a badly weakened Jane.

Thor sat with his woman, his mother at Jane's lower end, measuring her progress underneath the blanket that covered her hips. The house had been a flurry of activity when Thor had first brought Jane down, Erik pumping air into the exercise ball like there was a piston fuelling his arm! Everything had stilled since though; Loki had sealed a manic Darcy in their room and hadn't emerged since, Odin and Erik then making a similar retreat.

Thor hadn't left her side for a second; fretting anxiously, pacing, making sure she was warm enough, doing whatever was demanded of him from Jane or his mother to make her ordeal easier…

Jane whined, her grip on Thor's hand slacking as her pain subsided. Whatever was happening to her, Thor knew it was happening fast. Her bouts of pain had been getting closer and closer together, breaks in the contractions shortening considerably.

It drew Thor to despair as he tried to hold his woman together through it all, her voice pleading him, eyes tearing… it was soul crushing for the god to watch.

"We can still go to the hospital." Thor didn't like the idea of his children being born there but frankly, he wasn't sure how much of this he could take. Favourable or not, at least Jane could get some relief from the pain she was enduring. And for that Thor would sacrifice nearly anything.

"No!" Jane's teeth were gritted as she lifted her eyes to meet his, bearing just how much exhaustion and defiance she felt inside through the cracks in her orbs.

She was struggling.

But she was fighting.

Her eyes shut as she whined a high pitched moan, muscles of her uterus twitching. "No." she forced in a more controlled voice, trying to breathe slowly, the way Loki and Frigga had taught her. "I have to do this. There won't be any pain relief in Asgard. I have to learn to do this on my own."

The words instilled a small spurt of courage in her heart and her eyes opened, solidifying in quiet defiance against the pain. She was strong. She could do this.

Then another contraction seized her and she broke, sobbing into Thor's forearm.

Thor felt his eyes grow moist and fought the urge to cry along with her as he stroked her hair back from her sweaty face, pressing kiss to her forehead. "I'm here, Jane." His voice sounded weak and fragile, something he would have been ashamed of had there not been more urgent matters on his mind. "I'm right here."

"I can't do this." She said in a panicked breathless rush, spare hand gripping Thor's shirt to have something else of him to hold on to. The top of her bump rubbed firmly against the firm surface of the exercise ball but Jane kept rocking against it, the only way she could bear the intense cramping of her stomach. Her face twisted in pain and misery, mouth dropped open in a silent cry. "Oh my God, I can't do this."

"Yes, you can, Jane." Frigga denied firmly before Thor could. "You're almost there. The babies' Asgardian nature is making the contractions stronger, but it's speeding the labour along faster. You're doing so, so well."

Jane dropped her forehead down onto the ball and breathed out heavily. Thor guessed her contraction had ceased, but knew that another would be here before the minute was out.

"Why did you let me wear this shirt?!" she groaned, pinching her eyes closed against the exercise ball. "It's a curse."

Thor gulped – he'd laughed when he'd picked out the shirt for her the morning before. Now though, there was nothing funny about it. Pressed against the exercise ball on the front of Jane's black shirt was the words 'Newborn in: 10… 9… 8…' in white bold letters. They were proving to be cruelly accurate.

"Jane, I need to examine you." Frigga said gently, hand touching at her waist. "Just relax for me and I promise I'll be quick."

A groan left Jane's lips at Thor's mother's words. Thor settled closer to Jane, cupping her shoulder with his palm to give her more surrounding warmth for her to lean into, as Frigga's hand left Jane's waist and dipped below the sheet. Their faces were close, their clasped hands resting between them.

"Jane, look at me." Thor eased smoothly. "Remember your breathing. In and out. With me, alright?"

Thor felt more than stupid sucking in the slow breath and forcing it out measuredly through his teeth, but he knew it was what Jane needed. He was more grateful than ever he'd paid such attention during their improvised birthing classes now! Jane's eyes obediently to his and he held them, her cheeks pushing the air in and out, mirroring his. A squeak screwed her eyes shut though, as Frigga's hand descended.

"Sweet baby Jesus." Jane cursed quietly as her teeth ground into her lip through Frigga's examination. "Please tell me it's good." She begged shamelessly, squeezing Thor's hand in a grip he was sure most mortal men would hate her for. "Please don't tell me this is all for nothing."

Thor watched his mother's face anxiously as she checked his Jane for progress. When the smile spread over her lips, relief washed over his heart. "It's good?" he asked, hardly daring to believe the answer.

The goddess's hand withdrew and Jane slumped against the exercise ball, hauling in deep careless breaths.

"It's good." Frigga nodded, an encouraging brightness touching her smile and eyes. Thor felt his heart melt with pure and utter reprieve, glad that Jane's suffering had not been in vain. "She's ready to push."

For a moment, the words hovered in the air, broken only by Jane's ragged breaths. Thor just stared at his mother, a sloppy grin working its way onto his face. Jane was… ready to push? Had he heard her right? Wow! Not only had she progressed – she'd progressed all the way! Thor fought the urge to punch the air as the truth of what this meant settled on him. From what his mother had told him, he would be a father within the next half an hour.

He gulped down the tears of joy and abandoned Jane's hand and shoulder to cup her face, holding her still as he pressed a firm kiss to her lips, murmuring words of absolute adoration to her.

He wasn't sure if she even heard him, but he was too happy to truly care. Jane was ready to push, and their babies would be arriving so soon it made the god want to weep, his heart ready to burst with sheer delight.

"That's not possible." She rasped, lifting her eyes to Thor, still glistening. "Ten centimetres in three hours? That's not possible… is it?"

Thor just pressed another kiss to her mouth. "It's possible." He insisted hand stroking her hair through her doubts. "You've worked hard for it."

He knew that medically his words made no sense, but that hardly seemed to matter as the reality of what was about to happen settled on Jane. Her face paled, eyes gleaming even more so than before. "Oh my God." She breathed.

"Okay, Jane. I need you to listen to me very carefully." Frigga took command again, and Thor bracingly re-gripped Jane's hands. "When your next contraction comes, I need you to push."

Jane could only nod, and even then her eyes looked distant. And afraid. Very afraid. Thor could see it crystal clear as her gaze lifted to him again, the instinctive tightness of her fingers reflecting what she was starting to feel from her own body. "Thor, I'm scared!"

"You have no time to be scared, Jane." The words just tumbled from his mouth thoughtlessly, excitement and anxiety gripping his heart too much to restrain them. "Now is the time to be brave. You're almost there, my love. By the time hour is out you and I shall have our own two pieces of Valhalla."

She opened her mouth to reply, but it was choked out by a gasp as the contraction took hold. This was it.

"Jane, you have to push."

Jane pushed everything she had down to her lower end at Frigga's command trying to look past the burning pain in her middle to forcing out her lungful of air in a controlled long breath through her gritted teeth.

Her stomach clenched tightly and Jane pushed the pressure south with everything she had, letting the cry get wrenched from her throat. Her body trembled with effort and she gripped Thor's hand hard. Her eyes screwed shut as the pain of her core was replaced with something more profound, a sort of stretching.

The contraction died quickly and her breaths fell in ragged gasps, eyes shooting wide from what she'd just experienced. Had it worked? Had she done it right? She felt something lower down, sure, but…

"Well done, Jane." Thor breathed, brushing his lips over her forehead. "You are doing so well, my love."

Jane gasped in her breaths, all strategy of her breathing techniques lost. Her body ached, and her heart bled to know that this was only the first push. Pressure weighed firmly down within her, feeling the weight of her baby press within her, stretching her opening. She had to push harder, push him through. Or her - which would come first? Would she have a son before a daughter, or the other way around?

She groaned, feeling her inner muscles spasm lightly in preparation. It already felt like her body was being stretched to her limit, an unnatural presence deep between her legs.

Her hand fisted in Thor's shirt as the tightening of her belly clenched hard, knuckles white with grip. "_Thor!_"

The god seemed unperturbed by how Jane lurched him forward, not relenting his hold on her hand. "I'm here Jane." His deep voice reassured to her eyes, gleaming with vulnerable pain and anxiety. "You have to push."

He watched her face intently, watching the way his words sank in and her orbs hardened. For a second, he grew nervous; he did not want to aggravate her now, not while there was so much still burdening her. And especially not while she was filled with so many out of control womanly hormones that were ready to be unleashed on him if he pushed her too far! He started to wish he'd stayed silent as Jane's eyes narrowed and her fist twisted in his shirt.

The contraction saved him: Jane's mouth dropped open in what would have been an insult of some kind, but changed to a strained whine at the last moment as a clenching pain engulfed her body.

The defiance was here to stay though. Her orbs didn't soften or break – they blazed, burning with a resisting anger.

"I hate you for this, Thor." She said in a darkly threatening voice through gritted teeth. Anger trembled behind it, irrational, but lethal. For a second, Thor just blinked. Then he realised she was talking to him. "And if you think I'm ever having sex with you again, Thor Odinson, you're _sorely mistaken!"_

She screamed through her pain relentlessly, face scrunching as she pushed hard, feeling something force its way through her. The stretching inside was so intense she was sure she was tearing something.

"That's it, Jane!" Frigga's excited voice hit from behind through Jane's shouts. "He's crowning. You're doing really well."

An exhausted cry left her lips and she slumped again as the long contraction finally released her. Her body felt burning down below, stretched beyond measure. She let her face roll down into the ball, a silent cry of lingering pain falling from her open mouth, tears leaking from her eyes.

For a second all she could hear was the pounding blood in her ears, the sound working her emotions up tenfold.

"Do you want me to leave?"

She felt Thor's shirt tug lightly as his words left his mouth and Jane's mind flittered in panic. Thor leaving – no! She couldn't do this without him. No way. The thought alone was just… tears spring to her eyes at the idea of facing this alone.

Her womb tingled with the warning of another contraction, and tightened her grip in his shirt, dragging him back to her. "Don't you dare!" she warned in a rush, conscious the pain would be back any second for her to push through, and she wanted to get this out. Her teeth gritted. "You did this to me, Thor, and if I have to suffer then so do you!"

Thor's orbs were wide and – very wisely – slightly afraid at his beloved threat. He soon snapped back to focus as her eyes glazed over with pain though, mouth falling open in a silent cry.

Or not so silent.

Thor could only imagine how much effort she was putting into pushing their baby free, if the sounds she made in his ear were anything to go by! Her face scrunched as before, more insults, curses and profanities falling from her lips through firmly gritted teeth: "This is all your fault!" Her words were manic and incoherent as she ranted, fading into a whimpering shout of pain as the agonising pressure in her body became near unbearable.

"Come on, Jane – push!" Frigga encouraged with her motherly command. "His head's nearly there. You can do it, Jane. Just keep on pushing!"

Jane's body trembled with her final effort, putting everything she had into pushing for the last seconds of her contraction. She could do this, she willed in her head. She could do this. Just a little more effort for a little longer and she would have gotten past the hardest part. She could do this. Her teeth ground into her lip, head bowing to Thor.

And then the unbearable pressure released from her lower regions in a rush. She felt the largest part of her baby's anatomy slide free of its confines and her breath released in a gasping hurry.

She didn't need Frigga to tell her she'd done it; she could feel it for herself. A weak, relieved laugh left her into the exercise ball, and she slacked her grip on Thor, letting his shirt fall free. _Oh my God_, she thought in a daze – she had half her baby.

"Well done, Jane." Frigga crooned from behind, accompanied with light tugging from between her legs. "The head's out. One more good push and he'll be here."

Jane couldn't even say anything, just overwhelmed. Instinct pricked at her fingers and she felt a strange calmness in her aching body, as if the final contraction was being held at bay, giving her the go ahead. Her hand found its own way from the ball, shakily moving down around her bump to reach gently between her legs.

The exhausted smile blossomed as she felt it: her fingers brushed lightly over something firm, feeling the soft, wet hair of her baby's tiny head. Her baby. Her little baby was really there, there for her to touch at last. Jane's lip started to quiver, the tears building in her eyes so fast her vision blurred. She didn't have the will to be angry anymore, too tired, too aching, not caring about anything but the perfect creature that hung suspended between her legs.

Thor's hand clamped on the side of her head, a similar beam spreading his lips as they kissed her cheeks frantically.

Jane was numb with happiness, hardly caring about the contraction starting to prick at her body. That first contact just bled her heart. The baby she'd grown, carried and cared for for nine months was finally there within her reach.

And with one more push, he'd be hers forever.

She pulled her hand away and pressed her palm to the ball, letting the savage cry leave her as every ouch of her energy forced her body to push with the next contraction.

Her mind was sharp and focussed, body screaming with pain but Jane determined not to let it bar her now. Her baby needed her. A new found courage filled her soul and she tapped into strength she didn't even know she had left. One hard push, Frigga had said. Jane threw everything into it.

And with a slip that was almost comical, she felt him leave her.

The gasp fled her lips more at the strange sensation of being emptier more than any pain as the contraction died, the stretching presence between her legs almost missed.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God." Jane was muttering frantically, anxiety plucking at her heart. Where was her baby? She needed to see him. To touch him. To hold him. Just to know he was still there for her, safe and well.

She twisted round onto her side on the ball, keeping her legs to one side until she had Frigga and her baby in her sights to manoeuvre around. It was the most uncomfortable position in the world, but Jane hardly cared, eyes searching frantically for her baby. The clicking of the clamps drew her eyes to the blue mass in Frigga's arms, connected to her body by the twisting purple and blue cord that disappeared between her legs.

Frigga's smiling face lifted. "You have a son, Jane."

Jane's reached desperately for her baby like a child but she didn't care and the goddess didn't complain, handing the child over instantly. Jane took him by the sides of his tiny body and held him to her chest, feeling his new heart beat against hers.

A heavy sigh of relief left Jane at the tiny mass on her chest, hands cradling him close. Frigga leaned forward over Jane and prised the cord into view under her baby's body, turning him over slightly to cut scissors through the connection. Jane felt the separation in her heart more than her body.

"Lift your shirt up." Frigga instructed softly as she rubbed a small towel over the infant's body, cleaning him of the moisture and blood that coated him. A short stump of umbilical cord was left protruding from the baby's belly button. "It will keep him warm."

Jane's fingers couldn't tear it up fast enough. Her eyes fluttered shut as she felt her body heat share with her baby, knowing that there was nothing in the world that could ever make her happier, more complete. Her eyes opened again, unable to look away from her child for long: he was so tiny in her hands, his head cradled between her breasts, tiny fist curled against her skin. He was so tiny, so perfect, squirming numbly as he got used to the new freedom of movement and the little strength in his limbs.

Thor shifted round too, moving to the side of the ball for a better look at his firstborn. The smile on his face was simply breath taking.

"He's blue." The god gasped, reaching out a tentative finger to his baby's tiny hand, the tip of it just fitting into the palm of the little boy's hand. He didn't bother holding back the tears this time, letting the pearly bead run shamelessly down his cheek and through his smile.

Jane just laughed.

"Give him a minute to get some oxygen into his lungs." Frigga smiled. "The girl will be coming soon, Jane."

"Oh, my little boy." Jane crooned, hardly hearing the goddess between her legs. Her finger stroked tenderly over the little boy's cheek, marvelling at his tiny features: miniscule ears, small, full lips, little button nose that made her heart burst with adoration. "He's so tiny, Thor. So perfect."

The god had no words to agree with her that were worthy of the little angel in her arms. They watched with wonder as his skin slowly lost its blue colouring, a cute pinkness spreading over his body with every full lungful of air he took. Then his face scrunched, his mouth parted a fresh, first wail rasped from his tiny lungs. Jane smiled, cooing at the child as she rocked him with her body, letting the sound of his first cries fill her thoughts.

The tightening of her belly, and the pressure weighing down on her cervix brought her back to focus. Her little girl was next.

"Thor, take him." She gently ordered, peeling the infant away from her chest. She didn't trust herself to hold something so delicate and precious when the pain came.

The god looked sharply alarmed, leaning back slightly as if to refuse. Jane could read his fear in his eyes, afraid he would break something so tiny and fragile. She knew he wouldn't, and he had to take the baby. Perhaps he read the urgency in her eyes, gulping and leaning forward till the infant was lightly pressed between their two bodies. The god's hands cupped in the transition.

"Take his head." Jane instructed, shifting her own hands out of the way and guiding Thor's to replace them. "That's it. Just hold him, okay. Let him cry."

Jane watched avidly, ignoring the clenching of her stomach as he eyes washed over Thor and their son. The god held the child to his chest, hand under his head, and arm supporting the length of his body. His bright blue eyes glistened with awe.

Jane smiled, turning back to Frigga. "One down, one to go." She breathed, feeling the sensations of her uterus strengthen.

She bit her lip as the pain took hold, determined not to cry out to mash with the cries of her son. She listened to it avidly, spurring her on. There was no Thor to hold her hand this time, no one to help her. But with the promise of what she'd have at the end of it, one example cradled in Thor's arms, she was determined to do this. The pain though, hadn't ceased.

A gasping cry left her and she fought to control her rapid breathing, feeling her body fill and stretch again. Her daughter was coming.

"_Oh my God, Thor_." Her eyes were wide, but held no fear now. Only pain. She had to focus, to find some way to remind her what she was doing this for, knowing that Thor and her son were out of her reach. "Talk to me, Thor." She begged, "_Please._ Tell me about him."

Jane couldn't see the god, leaning just out of her reach with their baby. She missed them both already.

"He's …he's perfect, Jane. Truly." The god gasped emotionally over the boy's wails. "He has tufts of blonde hair on his head, and – _oh Jane_ – he has your eyes. He's so tiny." His words ceased and Jane heard Thor give the infant a sloppy kiss to his forehead. "He is the most wonderful creature I have ever seen, Jane."

A chuckle left him, and Jane felt her heart ache with longing and jealousy. She smiled through it through, Thor's description bringing Heavenly images to her mind.

Her son was blond – inheriting one of Thor's best attributes, his bright blue eyes being the first. _Her son_. And he had her eyes. Jane could just see it now, the large round orbs of chocolate brown looking up at her with simply innocent love only an infant could know. Just thinking about him, his perfect face and his tiny body brought tears to her eyes. Tears of pride and happiness; knowing she and Thor had created that together to make their lives near complete.

She wasn't sure if it was the burst of joy of some kind hand of fate, but as the first contraction of pushing through her daughter faded to a close, the baby's head rushed to freedom between her legs.

"Whoa." Jane breathed, with a gasping smile. She leaned back further on the exercise ball feeling her daughters head between her thighs.

Frigga read the astonishment in Jane's eyes and smiled warmly, easing any worries Jane had harboured in her heart. "She's going to come quick." The goddess informed her. "The second one often does."

Jane's daughter was sparing her the effort, letting herself be brought to the front in one push where it had taken her brother four. _Good girl_, Jane thought in her head. She'd have her little girl all the faster for it.

Her eyes set in solid determination: she'd managed to push her boy's body out in one go, and she was sure she could do the same again. One more push and it could be over, she told herself encouragingly, feeling the contraction start to tingle through her. One more push and she'd have both her children in her arms.

"I can do this." She willed herself aloud, forcing herself to believe it. Her breathing picked up a pace as the hard pain spread over her belly. "I can do this."

Her teeth gritted on instinct and she forced her body to push with everything she had left, determined to empty her body once and for all. She could see her once colossal stomach now shrinking with the sudden space inside her, nothing holding the stretched skin up. It looked weird, but Jane forced herself on, reminding herself what it meant – there was no going back. The only way for her baby was out.

Beside her, Thor was cradling their son in his arms, cooing lovingly. Jane wanted that, wanted to join him so much she thought her heart would give out for longing so bad.

She gritted her teeth and screwed her eyes shut as her hips bones seemed to force apart, making room for the tiny mass that she tried to force out. It hurt, felt like she was being torn apart by her own body – but it was working. She felt the progress. It was impossible not to feel it when her baby stretched out her nether regions so fully!

Jane felt the little girl's head inch forward, slowly but surely.

"Come on, Jane. You can do it." Frigga encouraged, "I know you're tired, but you have to keep going. That's it – almost there!"

Tired! Jane wanted to laugh – tired didn't cover it! Her body ached and every push felt weaker than the last no matter how hard she tried. But, as Frigga said, she had to keep going. Her lungs burned as she let the cry split her, giving everything she could for the last push of her contraction.

Her daughter's shoulder nudged free and Jane's contracting muscles kicked in at exactly the right time; the little girl slid home as Jane's body squeezed where her pushing had left off. The baby's body slid fluidly into Frigga's waiting hands.

Jane was reaching for her in a heartbeat.

The transition was swift – a blink and you'd miss it sort of quick. Jane reached, Frigga handed, and the baby girl was hugged to Jane's chest, sharing her mother's body heat. Jane cooed on her outward breaths to the infant, feeling her body burn down low from where she'd come just seconds before.

And then Jane was crying. Just crying. The tears washed down her face and her throat was clamped into silence, not knowing what to say as she stared down at the beautiful creature in her arms. Not even Frigga's cord cutting could break the spell. As pink flushed the baby's tiny body as it had with her brother, round, brand new eyes peeled open to look at the new world around her. Jane's heart just broke.

Her hand numbly accepted the small soft flannel Frigga offered her and almost in a dream-like state she rubbed the blood off her little girl's body. Those eyes though… she couldn't look away. Brown as Thor had said with the brother, but there was something more to it than that: flecks of electric blue cut through the chocolaty depths, small crystal blue ovals dotting the irises like flecks of paint. It looked simply gorgeous. As with her brother, the baby had a tuft of golden blond hair on her head. She truly was a little angel.

Jane didn't think she was aware of anything much after that. She could barely feel the contractions that delivered her placenta, didn't care about the rising morning glow peeking through the curtains – she had everything she needed right there.

She hoisted her little girl up and pressed a kiss to her cheek, settling her back on the curve of her chest quickly. Hands cradled her and Jane's eyes fluttered shut happily, letting her fingertips treasure her little girl.

They cupped the back of her head. The baby's tiny hands grasped Jane's fingers. The tiny mouth stretched wide and yawned, staying perfectly silent but for a little tired yelp. No crying. No screaming. Just peace and love, those wondrous eyes following their mother with innocent curiosity.

Thor settled closer beside her, and Jane nudged their daughter to the far side of her chest to make room for their son. Soon, she had one baby cradled over each side of her chest, one screaming and one silent. Jane revelled in their little weight, knowing they were lighter and smaller than babies normally were, just making her love them more. Their son screamed into the swell of her breast while their daughter just watched him across Jane's body.

Jane smiled, watching her two children lovingly. Thor settled his chin on her shoulder and reached out a finger to his little girl, smiling when she held on to it. Those round, Bambi eyes blinked at him.

"They have the same eyes." He breathed, his own orbs misting with emotion.

Jane could only nod. "Yeah." she finally choked, far from steadily. "We did it, Thor. We really did it. We're parents."

Thor's chin lifted from her shoulder as his lips pressed a firm, loving kiss into the side of her head, arm wrapping round her shoulders. He pulled the blanket up to cover her, settling the material over the backs of his new-born children.


	17. Hush Little Baby

"You're sure you don't want to sleep?" Thor asked for the hundredth time. "You have worked hard through the night, Jane. Surely you must be exhausted."

Jane just smiled on beside him, letting her head drop sideways onto his shoulder. They both sat on the sitting room couch, the top arch of the sun hovering over the line of the horizon and spilling new light over the house, giving the children their first sunrise.

All were dressed in fresh clothes, Thor and Jane in jeans and thick jumpers (Jane wearing one of Thor's because…well, who wouldn't?), the two babies in baby grow suits, one white and one baby blue, so they could tell them apart. Without their obvious anatomy differences on display, there was no distinction between the pair at all! They were identical.

"How could I want to leave this?" Jane sighed, staring down at the little blue soldier in her arms.

Her jumper was rolled up over her chest and her son was attached to her bosom, eyes fluttered closed as he fed. Jane smiled over him lovingly. It had taken forever for him to latch on, but with much patience – on Frigga's part and Frigga's part alone – he had finally caught on and fed, his little body warm in Jane's arms. It didn't hurt, like Jane had expected. More just a dull ache as the fluid left her.

Thor cradled their daughter in his arms, her tiny hands cupping his fingertip. Her legs kicked up slightly, bracing against his ample bicep. It was mesmerising watching something as huge and deadly as Thor handle something so tiny and precious with such care.

"I do not want you to over exert yourself, my love." Thor said softly, neither accepting nor rejecting her answer.

He looked and sounded like he wanted to say more, but a soft whine from his son cut him off and Jane felt it hum lightly against her breast. Her boy's head turned away from her, his tiny fist waving in the air aimlessly. Jane balanced him in the crook of her arm as she lowered her jumper down her body.

It'd had taken a feed to shut him up, his tiny lungs screaming to his heart's content since he'd been brought into the world. His face scrunched again and Jane thought her boy would yell again, but – to her relief – he just rolled his head around, arms and legs flailing adorably.

"What do we do now?" she asked, not sure who she was really asking it to. Her mind was still numb with euphoria, struggling to get to grips that these little angels were hers and would be forever.

She was a mom. A mother. The feeling of pride that swelled her heart was simply beyond words, nothing in the world to describe such an awesome feeling. She had two little beings that loved her unconditionally, that needed her, that depended on her, were helpless without her there… and she loved every second of it. They were so perfect, a dazzling clash of her and Thor.

Thor glanced up to his woman and son, letting his hand cup under his daughters head, holding her to his left breast. Over his heart.

His smile was soft and warm, an echo of peace. "Now we name them."

Jane's eyes flickered up to meet his, a gentle smile on her lips. He could see the excitement behind it, sparking in her calm orbs. For someone who'd just given birth a matter of hours ago, she looked remarkably alert.

His mother had retired back to bed, and he assumed the others had done the same. Or perhaps they'd been herded away to give the new parents space to grasp their miracles for themselves. Either way, Jane and Thor sat with their children in their sitting room, the fire blazing across the room, silence from the house upstairs.

Thor was grateful, wanting to get to know his knew family before he presented them to the world. Already some of their qualities were shining through: his daughter had the peace of a saint, while his son was demanding and hungry.

_The apple doesn't fall far from the tree_, Thor thought with a proud smile over his tiny boy, curling against Jane's body to sleep. Thor couldn't believe it. His mother had stayed up all through the night to birth him, feed him even through her weakened state as the sun rose – and yet the little one had the nerve to just fall asleep! Thor's smile widened, thinking of the arrogance that would one day grow into. Yup – definitely his son.

"If he is tired should we put him to bed?" Thor asked, unsure of what he was supposed to do. _Then again,_ he reminded himself, _there are no rules_. Parenting varied.

Jane's eyes rolled down to her boy. "No, he'll be alright." She said, snuggling him more comfortably against her body. "I don't think I could put him down even if I wanted to."

The smile that blossomed over her face was simply heart-warming, and Thor suddenly wished his hands were free to hug his woman and draw her close. Then he glanced down at the tiny bundle he held and found himself torn between his two girls.

"I know we discussed this weeks ago…" his eyes lifted to Jane's, letting him lose himself in the milky brown depths. "Have you changed your mind?"

Jane's lips pressed together in a patient smile. Her head shook lightly from side to side.

Thor licked his lips, mouth suddenly dry. "Are you sure?" The names hung on the tip of his tongue, but he did not want to use them until he knew they were _the ones_. Once he spoke them it would feel final, something irreversible.

Jane's lips parted to reveal a loving flash of teeth, one she then angled down to her little angels. Thor saw the calm resolve in her glowing orbs – she was sure. She didn't need to say it. He let his gaze follow hers and was graced with a glimpse of Valhalla – his woman, his son and his daughter, all there together. All his. He shifted his little girl into one arm, cradling her tiny form effortlessly in his large frame, and looped his spare arm proudly around Jane's shoulders.

"I almost don't want to say it." He chuckled bashfully, unable to believe the weakness these two tiny creatures could instil in him. He loved it though. He loved them.

Then his little girls serene eyes moistened, and his face fell a millisecond before she burst into cries that must surely be testing her little lungs! She'd be able to level her brother in a shouting match easily, the god thought as he tried to rock her in his arms the way he had done to his howling son earlier.

"And there goes the other one." Jane sighed, feeling her boy stir in her arms. Her gaze stared at her daughter though, heart falling – she knew her daughters blissful peace couldn't last forever but… "Want to swap?" she offered, catching Thor's slightly panicked eyes.

He nodded vigorously.

Thor wasn't shoving off the babies onto Jane. He didn't mind tending to them when they cried… only the 'tending' didn't seem to comfort them in any way.

Jane seemed to have the knack. He wasn't sure if it was because she was the mother, they'd been unconsciously familiar with her for the last months, or if he was just simply incapable at dealing with upset children, but Jane was definitely better at soothing the babies than he was. Even their boy hadn't stopped crying after birth until his mother had fed him, despite the time rocked tenderly in his father's arms.

Perhaps that was it, Thor thought to himself as he gently juggled his daughter into the arm he'd freshly withdrawn from Jane's shoulders, and took up his sleepy son in the freed crook of his arm. Maybe their little girl was just hungry now, having waited her turn through her brothers feed.

Jane scooped up their girl and righted her, hugging her small body by her shoulder. "Come on, baby," she crooned softly, rocking the baby's tiny form comfortingly. "What do you want?"

"Perhaps she wants you to start calling her by her name." Thor's eyes playfully sparkled, lifting their boy to mirror Jane's position with their daughter.

Jane grinned back, watching Thor rock with their boy as he started to howl too and they had two screaming babies on their hands. Her head cocked to the side, and she stared at her son on Thor's shoulder thoughtfully. She understood what he meant now. About almost not wanting to say it. It was like this was all a wonderful dream and as soon as they established something solid, the illusion would shatter.

But they couldn't be called 'the babies' forever.

Lowering her eyes, Jane settled her daughter down in her arms, stroking a tender finger over the little face. "Astrid?" she tried quietly, the word sounding strange on her tongue.

One look at her baby though, and Jane knew it was the right name. Astrid. Everything about it was apt, the name just as fair and beautiful as its meaning. A smile blossomed on Jane's face as just saying it, a new found joy filling her now that her daughter had a name.

Beside her, she could hear Thor breathing their son's new name into his ear, 'Arik' sighing from his lips over and over again to the screaming child. Jane smiled on upon hearing it. Arik – like Erik, but a variant. They couldn't shake how the meaning of it had touched them, and Jane knew it was absolutely perfect for their little boy as she watched lovingly over their future 'merciful ruler'.

She reattached Astrid to her shoulder and hugged her tight, the feel of her child's little body in her arms soothing her heart. Her cries softened to whimpers.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she let her body twist at the waist, swaying round lightly in happiness. The smile hovered on her dreamy lips. She whispered and cooed comfortingly in Astrid's ear until the little girl had settled again, hiccupping cutely on Jane's shoulder in the aftermath of her upset.

Arik took another twenty minutes or so to calm down, and it took another transition to do it. Thor was more than happy to take his peaceful little girl back, planting a loving, smiling kiss on her tiny cheek as he cradled her again. Jane smirked on as she rocked her little soldier until his voice started to rasp and he finally gave up. A disgruntled look was on his face as she pulled him down from her shoulder.

"She's going to be a daddy's girl." Jane grinned at Thor, the powerful god just looking besotted with the little cherub as she sucked her tiny thumb in her mouth. Jane couldn't argue though – it was simply adorable!

The god lifted his glittering gaze with a grin and took in Arik's fist in Jane's jumper. Evidently, the babies had already staked in a claim to their favourite parent. He let his eyes fall back to Astrid, drinking in the completely contented look on her face, so innocent to the world, so happy just to be in her father's arms. Thor's heart ached in his chest. "She is never to date, Jane." He said bluntly. The idea of having to share his little princess was just… no, he wasn't sure he could do it.

Jane laughed at his side, her fingers trying to gently pry Arik's away from her sensitive chest. "That's like saying Arik's never going to fight. It's not going to happen, Thor."

"Just let a man try." The god growled protectively, settling his daughter more firmly in his arms. "And Arik will be the greatest warrior these realms have ever known. And one day, the greatest king."

"You get to go first, sweetie." Jane nudged his arm playfully, earning a wolfish grin in reply. "Get on with your own life before you start planning theirs."

Thor smirked and eased himself to relax back against the couch, feeling his soul glow with completion as Jane leaned against his shoulder as she had before. Thoughts raced through his head, unable to fight the excitable planning. He'd become king. He had to become a father his children could be proud of. He wanted to be the one conquering evil and keeping the peace, ensuring the worlds were right by his hand for his children. It was a task he could trust to no other.

His hand left cradling Astrid, leaving her to be nestled against his body by one strong yet tender arm. Thor's fingers gently peeled Jane's away from their son, and she adjusted quickly to holding him with one arm. She let her fingers ace with Thor's, loving the simple connection between them.

She looked up into his eyes, staring deep into the bright blue depths, blazing with passion. Her heart stopped in her chest – he'd never looked at her so intently before.

"But before I ascend to the throne, there is one other endeavour I need to accomplish." His deep voice rumbled warmly. The playful grin was gone now, replaced with the fierce determination that engulfed his features. His fingers squeezed hers. "I have yet to make you my wife."

Jane felt the breath catch in her throat and her lips hung parted, the words echoing in her head. Wife…_oh my God_, she breathed in her mind, _had Thor just proposed?_ Her heart beat to life abruptly, thudding so hard in her chest it hurt.

Her voice came out as a squeak when she finally found it: "You…" she gulped and cleared her throat, trying again. "Really?" was all she could manage in the end.

Thor grinned afresh.

Jane couldn't take her eyes off him as he slowly leaned in close and touched his lips to hers, kissing her as gently as if she were made of glass. His tongue prised her lips apart, but still every touch was soft and caressing, their sentimental depth simply taking Jane's breath away.

Her heart was hammering by the time he pulled away, a lopsided grin plastering her features. She had to reaffirm Arik's position in her arms, feeling her body just numb with pleasure.

"Really." Thor smiled.

Jane was sure her heart would burst for all the happy emotions filling it, and set her heart down on Thor's shoulder again to stop it spinning so giddyingly. She had her man, she had her babies, and now said man in question was asking her to marry him – how could life get any better?

"Yes." She sighed over and over again, letting her eyes fall dreamily shut as bliss crashed her system. She hugged her baby closer to her body. "Yes."

Her eyes peeled open again to watch over her two little angels once more, freeing her hand of Thor's to reach in an tickle Astrid in her stomach. The little girl squirmed and squealed, the most adorable smile Jane had ever seen gracing her features. Oh yes, she thought, everything's perfect now.

The sun peaked firmly over the horizon and fresh orange light of the morning spilled over the threshold, bringing a homely comforting warmth with the light, illuminating the promise of a glorious future.

The first day of their new lives began.

* * *

**NOTE**

**Astrid and Arik won by a landslide! Bravo guys.**

**The end bit was spur of the moment, so I don't know if I'll end up taking it anywhere or not. Just sayin'. Unless, people ask me for it.**

**Thanks for reading! I tried my best, researched my heart out. It's tough writing pregnancy and birth stuff when you're a seventeen year old and have zero experience of what it's _really _like. Still, I tried. I hope it paid off.**

**P.S one more review and we're up to a hundred! :D be the hundredth person!**


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